The News Review:

- Water supply scheme makes no headway
- Home buyers flood Hobart
- Water grid on track, says Bligh
- The big dry, April 28th

Water supply scheme makes no headway
Hindu – May 22, 2007
26-crore Kandukur drinking water supply scheme in Prakasam district. The file relating to No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) for exemption of Central Excise duty on cement pipes is gathering dust at the Collectorate for the last one-and-a-half months. The contractor has anxious moments as he is losing precious working days during the summer season. Monsoon may affect the pipeline laying work and the delay further leads to escalation of cost and ultimately jeopardize the project itself.

Home buyers flood Hobart
NEWS.com.au – May 22, 2007
article-tools –> MARIA RAE May 22, 2007 12:00am HOBART is a hot spot for a real estate trend tipped to propel homeowners towards water-rich locations. Tasmania’s capital ranks among the top six places in the country for those seeking what has been dubbed the "oasis change". Its high rainfall and secure water supply earned Hobart the recommendation from property advisory service Hotspotting. Owner Terry Ryder said following the "sea change" and "tree change" trends, property buyers were now seeking out water availability when buying homes. "The ongoing drought, the subsequent introduction of strict water restrictions and the increased cost of water use has already propelled the issue up the list of buyers’ priorities," Mr Ryder said. "While hordes of people are not going to move immediately to the wilds of Tasmania or western Queensland purely for water reasons, the oasis change will be a factor among baby boomers looking to find a nice place to retire and working families who just want to plant some cherry tomatoes and keep their car and driveway clean. " Townsville, Perth, Maleny in south-east Queensland, Dubbo in central New South Wales and Diamantina Shire in western Queensland were the other spots highlighted…
"If we ever got to the stage where water didn’t come out of the taps any more we would have been economically ruined," he said. He has since started the Tchange website to help others move to Tasmania and said he was not the only one considering plentiful water as a factor. Mr Nuyten said 20 per cent of visitors accessed the water resources page, which got nearly as many hits as the cost-of-living page. Real Estate Institute of Tasmania chief Martin Harris said there was no evidence of the trend happening yet. But he welcomed any extra reason for people seeking to buy in Tasmania. "It’s another string in our bow," Mr Harris said. LJ Hooker Glenorchy manager Stuart Whyment said there had been a boost in interstate investors recently but he could not pin it down to water supply.

Water grid on track, says Bligh
The Age – May 22, 2007
“In fact, pipe laying is now ahead of project forecasts on thewestern corridor project. She said an average of 370 metres of pipe was being laid eachday – ahead of the forecast 325 metres a day. Ms Bligh said works on the Bundamba water treatment plant werealso on target to supply up to 20 megalitres a day to Swanbankpower station by August. “Construction at Luggage Point and Gibson Island advanced watertreatment plants is also progressing, as indeed is the Gold Coastdesalination plant,” she said.

The big dry, April 28th
economist.com – May 22, 2007
The fact is, much of what was previously marginal rural land is now unviable. It’s not much good renovating an old pub if no one lives in the town anymore. Even worse, there is not enough water available to supply people in most southern and eastern cities as well, including Perth way over in the west. Australia needs to move people northwards to the tropics where it rains much more consistently. Human history is full of tales of mass migration, and many Australians will become the next participants in this inevitable event. Jeff McCormackLinz, Austria.