Doing Stuff....

Greg and I enjoy some educational-type outings now and then. We've seen lots of commercials on TV about the importance of water conservation, so we went to visit a dam and weir to assess for ourselves how dire the situation really is. These areas are natural reserves as well, so it's more likely we'll see the black cockatoos, which are threatened in this state. It's a good opportunity for the cockatoo conservation groups to get in touch with the general public as well. We did see/hear a flock fly nearby while at the Victoria Dam.

The water levels do appear to be low, as you can see by the banks of the dam behind me, and this is supposed to be the end of the "rainy" season. The walls of the Victoria dam are to the right of me, not pictured. They've set up some really nice walking trails to encourage people to come down and explore the area. Likely popular with school groups, I would imagine. (Notice my bottle of water; apparently the amount of bottled water consumed in this country is astronomical). They're currently building a monster desalination plan in Perth to keep up with water demands...

There is also a serious relationship between bush fires and the water reserves; when the fires burn out of control, the risk of contamination to the water sources by run-off is quite high. They have started controlled burns now to try and prevent the summer rampage of the bush fires. (Our friends in BC can relate).
I'm standing in front of Mundaring Weir here, a very large dam that was completed in 1903, and is the start of the water pipeline that pumps water to agricultural areas and the Kalgoorlie goldfields, some 700km in all. Of course it has since been updated and made high-tech, but there are plaques all along the path to describe the camp where the workers lived over a hundred years ago, mainly immigrants trying to make a go. There is also a museum at the base that gives a good idea of the history. The thing that strikes me most, is that this reservoir would be considered tiny in comparison to the 1000's of fresh water lakes we've often driven by in the Whiteshell.