Water Scarcity Causes Scare amongst Wide Bay Growers

It is a known fact that Australia’s Wide Bay Region has a booming agricultural sector. Moreover, this area produced around 12 percent agricultural production in Queensland, that is worth greater than $1.5 billion. Nevertheless, the growing personnel are facing grave issues due to water scarcity. This is mainly because this place has not seen rainfall for a significant amount of time. Hence, the citizens of this area are wary that the area’s significant water source, Paradise Dam, may run out of water soon. The government has chosen to lower the dam’s wall by 50% due to issues faced by water shortages.

In addition to the destruction of crops, many farm owners are also fearing the scarcity of jobs due to this massive crisis. Many farms have set up extra hectares of land and are still planning to set up a few hectares more. However, due to this grave issue, it seems that the crops will not come into fruition for sale. Many have opined that even if 50 pc of the water allocation shifts elsewhere, then how are the owners suppose to make up the extra amount of water. Since the farms have planned for their development, there is almost no chance to back out without facing a great amount of losses.

Macadamia growers are slowly becoming pessimistic as well. This is because they realize that without decent inflows of water running through the dam, the region could face an all time low when it comes to allocations. In fact, when the farms were bought, they contained two sources of water. However, if the indecent flows in the dam continue, the region may face low announced allocations. This will in turn create a historical record. Additionally, there may be very low water allocations in July itself that may drive farmers to fast-track a class action.