Water Series News

Gillard budgets for Murray-Darling water buy-backs

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she will sign up to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's water plan, despite not having seen it, if the Government is re-elected

Faults 'will not' blow out Tillegra Dam cost

OPPONENTS of Tillegra Dam seized on a report they said proved there were fault lines around the site, but Hunter Water denied the problems would blow out the projected cost.

Joyce accepts water debate, on condition

Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce says he'll happily take up Water Minister Penny Wong's challenge for a debate on water policy, so long as she releases hers.

Queenslander's pipe dream for PNG water

A Queensland tourism entrepreneur's pipe dream is one step closer to realisation with the launch a feasibility study into piping fresh water 3000 kilometres from Papua New Guinea to Australia.

Labor to provide more for water projects

A re-elected Labor government will help more communities across Australia roll out stormwater projects to help secure future water supplies, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Farmers face water cuts

FARMERS say their crops could dry up if the State Government pursues its plan to reduce their water allocation, improving the health of the Hawkesbury River.

Fear over water bill bungle

TASMANIAN households may be flooded with thousands of dollars in water and sewerage bills because of a bungle at the state's new water corporations.

Wastewater to get a second life under city recycling plan

Turn on a tap for a drink, water a garden, or flush a toilet in inner Sydney and the water you use is probably all of the same quality.

Report card gives state's roads and rail a fail, but drinking water makes the grade

The quality of the state's infrastructure has gone backwards over the past seven years, and is generally rated as being only poor to average, a survey has found.

Farmers 'irate' as Murray plan delayed

Farmers are not happy with an election-related delay in unveiling the new plan for the Murray-Darling Basin.

Rule change leads to record water carryover

Northern Victorian irrigators have carried over a record amount of irrigation water from last season.

Opposition to using Logue Brook for drinking water

The Water Corporation has reiterated its opposition to using any recreational dam for drinking water.

Irrigation water price rise stresses dairy farmers

Dairy farmers are looking for cost savings in coastal NSW, after irrigation water charges jumped 10 per cent with the new season water allocations.

Election may delay water plan for basin

CRUCIAL details of the plan to save Australia's most significant river system may not be made public before voters go to the polls in a possible August election, a well-informed source says.

Western councils unite to plan for future

Three strategy plans looking at future water management in local government areas in north-western New South Wales have been completed.

Water supplies not yet desperate

The Water Minister Graham Jacobs says Perth's drinking water supplies are not getting desperate despite a long, dry winter spell.

Price of water to rise after overhaul

THE Rudd government's key infrastructure body will propose an overhaul of the way states charge for water, a move that could result in higher prices.

A future with less water

For more than 100 years Australians have argued over the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin. We now know that as we developed extraction industries, we have left too little water in the rivers to sustain a healthy river system.

Water system in for revamp

The Wingecarribee Shire Council says federal funding will help it address some of the issues it faces with an ageing water system.

Australian water reform in the international eye

One of the world's leading water scientists has labelled Australian water reform as critical to international efforts to make irrigation sustainable.