By Xinhua,
Beijing : Available drinking water supplies plummeted to record lows in Australia and up to a million people could face a shortage of drinking water if the drought continues in this country, a report on the nation’s largest river system revealed on Sunday.
The report said the situation was critical in the Murray-Darling system, which provides water to the country’s main food bowl. There was a rapid deterioration of water between March and June this year.
However, the report said work was continuing to remedy the river, including water-sharing agreements between states, to protect critical water needs for the next year if the drought persisted.
Governments would also need to consider how to allocate water early to protect “critical human needs” for 2009-10, the report said.
“More than one million people draw their drinking water from the Murray, so it’s essential that we continue to make critical human needs our No. 1 priority,” said Australia’s Climate Change Minister Penny Wong. “Longer-term, tackling the problems in the Murray-Darling Basin requires serious action on climate change.”