D566E    Water is essential for the survival of the human race, and in years past Australia, even though it is considered to be one of the driest continents on earth, had sufficient water for the survival of its people and its industries. The impact of the current drought that has lasted for several years in most areas of the country is now clearly evident to everyone. The landscape pictured here is one that must make any caring person shed tears of despair, for this is the bed of Lake Eucumbene, an immense lake that, when full, has a holding capacity more than nine times that of Sydney Harbour. The dead trees have, for more than fifty years, been submerged by the waters of the lake that is part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a world famous engineering project that, since its construction in the 1950s, has provided water for agriculture, for urban use, and for the production of hydroelectric power. Now they stand exposed as a stark reminder of the savage consequences of global warming and of subsequent climate change.

 

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