THE severity of the current drought is of great concern to all Australians.
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There are four main types of drought:
1. Meteorological, when there is less rain than usual - a significant deviation from expected patterns.
2. Agricultural, when soil moisture losses are greater than rainfall, resulting in not enough soil moisture for plants to grow. This is a relatively common occurrence in summer in southern Australia. The problem becomes worse when soil moisture deficit creeps into the growing season or extends for so long that both pasture and crop growth are severely curtailed.
3. Hydrological, when stream flow decreases to a point where it threatens water resources, resulting in dams rapidly falling or even completely drying out.
4. Socio-economic, when there is not enough water to meet human and domestic requirements. Australia has, until now, mainly been protected from these effects, but, globally, it is estimated that more than 12 million people have died over the last 100 years due to drought.
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In the US, the term "flash drought " is used where rainfall drops dramatically, often associated with rapidly rising temperatures, causing soils to dry out very quickly.
It can be difficult to define when a drought starts, and when it breaks. A passing shower might make things look better temporarily, but will not put a real dent in the damage being done.
Human-induced climate change is real. All of the above apply to Bathurst now.
Meteorologists are forecasting that future rainfall averages in south-eastern Australia will be significantly lower, and that winter and spring rainfall (April to October growing season) will likely be shorter.
This will have significant impacts on Bathurst.
Our lifestyles and agricultural practices will need to adapt. Chifley Dam inflows are predicted to be less - will it again fill regularly and dependably? If we raise the dam wall, would it ever fill?
Floods and good seasons will come again, but perhaps less often. The new norm is predicted to be a drier climate.
The good news is that we can become more resilient to drought by increasing soil carbon, thereby storing more water underground, increasing the rate of water infiltration into the soil when rain occurs, maintaining very high levels of ground cover and slowing the rate of water run-off in our landscapes, and in our city and villages, harvesting stormwater and moving towards recycling our sewage water.
For Bathurstians, this unwelcome drought may well have a silver lining.
