Water and oil do not mix

Nothing better illustrates the incompetence of public debate on the environment than the unchecked advocacy of techniques that apply to one risk management scenario, but not to another .
Listening to the stupid panic that many indulge in over water even today , you would think we were running out of water. Oil, on the other hand is a diminishing resource and yet we hear the same carelessly trotted out trading, tightening and frightening arguments for both . Even the Treasurer thinks we should all store it in our own backyards ( he didn't consult the NHMC on that one and he isn't the first either) .Rainwater tanks and windmills still say more about the "don quixote" factor in politics than they do about sound imperatives of conservation and starting new/sus old ecosystems in the suburbs . Such careless politics treats true conservation (incl the critical cost manageable diversity) as a joke !

First - The storing of rainwater in most areas of suburbia is not the most desirable or effective method of water conservation.
Second - The ongoing panic about lack of runoff is in ignorance of when it is likel , Catchments don't run water early in the season as soils and surfaces are dry . Infact runooff events in most situations ( apart from high mountain areas ) are quite rare . Many areas, even in southern Victoria, do not run water reliably every year, even though most of the driest of those areas average around once a year .
If you really want to know whats happening or likley to happen you should listen to someone other than the TV or radio!