[LINK] OT water [Was NBN Broadband Plan]

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

David notes,

>> Northern Victorian farmers are paying full price for water they do 
>> not receive ...
>
> As I understand it, they pay for a licence which gives them the right
> to an allocation when there's water available. The licence fee is due 
> annually. If it's not paid, then the licence is forfeit.


Correct .. and, what is the value of a farm which has forfeited, or sold,
it's water rights even if frequently (lately) they're allocated no water?

But in future it's not farming communities which will suffer so much, it
will be cities. Country communities, like this, are traditionally fairly
self-sufficient, and lately, becomming super-efficient primary producers.

Sure, soon we will no longer have *surplus* production of foodstuffs etc
to truck/ship elsewhere (eg Melbourne) but, as ever, country communities 
will survive quite nicely indeed. Frankly, tree-changing is a smart move.

For example, the butchers (& pubs) in town only sell meat sourced within
perhaps 15klm, and which has never been frozen. (And of course one never
exports the very finest produce anyway). The difference is amazing.  And
our local Saturday Farmer's Market only sells the best of produce, which 
was usually harvested yesterday, and at prices unheard of in cities. The
Gift shops (shiney tin & cheap plastic from China) soon seem replaced by
Craft shops which sell, and teach, spinning etc again from local produce.

Our bakers have equipment to mill, you guessed it, locally grown wheat &
there are any number of local dairy farms/orchards/wineries etc whatever.
and have a guess where their very best goes, or should i say remains :-)

Sure country Vic soon won't have a surplus to waste fuel by transporting
elsewhere on, but, so what, it won't be our problem. Besides which, here
one never locks the door, or even removes the keys from the car ignition.

And the local school Principal (of a school which is both primary, and a
secondary school and which seems to have an amazingly caring student pop)
tells me his is the first school in Vic where *every* kid has a computer
and free net access, and, every classroom has an interactive white board.

So anyway forgive the ramble, gentle reader, but what I'm saying is that
with fuel costs etc, and future extreme drought conditions, i think that
decentralization will be the only way forward, especially for lots in Oz.

And even now our *full* tank of water tastes much better than town water.

Cheers,
Stephen


> poster child is Cubbie station: licensed to take more than the total 
> flow; diversion channel three times the size of the natural river 
> channel. Last I heard they were in liquidation: went bust because there 
> wasn't enough water.
> 
> Downstream, there's another mob licensed to take more than Cubbie. This 
> is called a "sleeper", because it's never been used. They still pay an 
> annual fee, though. I read somewhere that sleeper allocations total 
> more than five times the active licences.
> 
> Bottom line: state governments have sold five or six times the 
> available water. It must make sense to someone, because hard-headed
> business people keep paying the licence fees.
> 
> But Cubbie still went broke.
> 
> -- 
> David Boxall                    |  My figures are just as good
>                                  |  as any other figures.
> http://david.boxall.id.au       |  I make them up myself, and they
>                                   |  always give me innocent pleasure.
>                                   |                     --HL Mencken
> 


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