Australian PM John Howard has warned that irrigation of much of the nation’s farmland will be banned unless there is heavy rainfall in the next month.
Mr Howard said there would only be enough water in the huge Murray-Darling river system for drinking purposes.
He acknowledged that this would have a “potentially devastating” impact on many horticultural, crop and dairy industries around the river basin.
But he said there was no choice, and he described the situation as “grim”.
Irrigators are already warning that if they cannot water their land, there will be huge crop losses and Australian consumers will face large price rises.
More… ➡