Melbourne Age - Victoria Residents May Drink Recycled Sewage If Water Policy Doesn't Change Soon

[hatrack]

VICTORIANS must consider drinking recycled sewage and harvest more water at home to reduce the damaging rates of extraction from rivers. The State Government's tactic of withholding environmental flows from rivers to secure drinking supplies was putting river health at "serious risk", according to yesterday's State of the Environment report.

But author Dr Ian McPhail lamented that "even today", Victorians did not fully appreciate the importance to the economy and human survival of maintaining river health. The report said the Government should "act with urgency to increase environmental water reserves", and environmental flows should be renamed "essential baseflows" to awaken Victorians to their importance.

EDIT


VICTORIA has pursued a peripheral, risky and inadequate strategy for reducing carbon emissions, particularly given the state's record of being a big emitter. As one of the world's biggest greenhouse emitters on a per capita basis, Victoria and Australia must now adopt more ambitious targets for reducing emissions, yesterday's landmark environment report said.

The comments are an embarrassment to the State Government, which has prided itself on its environmental credentials. The report said Victoria's target of reducing emissions by 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050 must be altered as the targets could "delay action significantly and increase the economic, social and environmental risks" of climate change. Dr McPhail's report accused Victorian governments of creating a "policy flux" that discouraged investment in new and renewable technologies.

EDIT

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/a-state-under-stress-20081204-6rpl.html

[HereSince1628]

1. This is a problem?

I do get that failure to adequately treat the water to make it safe would be a problem.

But many municipalities in the US draw water from rivers and reservoirs. Much of that water is for practical purposes just diluted sewage outflow.

[XemaSab]

2. There are 12 municipalities downriver from the Clear Creek WWTP in Redding

Drink that, Sacto! :P

[Greyskye]

3. If it's good enough for NASA...