Responses to the Drought - The Big Dry

• States introduced 'drought-proofing' for the future

  • long term response
• More efficient irrigation systems introduced

  • long term response
• Farmers claimed AUS $400-600 in assistance from the government per fortnight

  • short term response
• Government paying out AUS $1.7 million a day in drought relief to farmers in 2012

  • short term response
• A new multimillion-dollar desalination plant was built in Sydney

  • long term response
• Legislation to ban car washing and limit showers to 4 minutes

  • short term response
• States urged to hand the responsibility for managing the Murray-Darling River Basin over to the government

  • long term response
• Scientists calculated the amount of water that states could sustainably use and had to ensure they did not go over that figure. Water could be traded within and between states

  • short term response
• Recycling 'greywater': waste water from showers, baths, washbasins, and washing machines.

  • short term response
• Subsidising rainwater storage tanks for homes

  • short term response
  • subsidising = make cheaper