{"id":2434,"date":"2026-09-17T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2026-10-14T10:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:18:10","slug":"episode-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/togetherness\/episode-6","title":{"rendered":"Episode 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"color: #9b51e0;\" class=\"stk-highlight\">The Togetherness Project<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Today\u2019s Topic \u2013 Water<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week we will have a focus on water. A little on the sea and a lot on the water that falls from the sky. Water and particularly fresh water is essential for life on land. We are running out of fresh water and there are some clear reasons for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First up: What happened last week?:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>More talk about AI and its threat of extinction<sup><a href=\"#footnote_1_2434\" id=\"identifier_1_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/we-really-do-earnestly-believe-ai-could-kill-all-humans-if-ai-labs-are-so-worried-about-ai-doom-why-dont-they-stop-291595\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Western Renewables link approved and under a costing review<sup><a href=\"#footnote_2_2434\" id=\"identifier_2_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-09-15\/western-renewables-link-ees-approval-ben-carroll-cost-assessment\/107154342\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inflation is increasing and the Reserve Bank thinks that increasing interest rates is the way to go<sup><a href=\"#footnote_3_2434\" id=\"identifier_3_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/unemployment-rises-to-4-6-but-a-september-interest-rate-hike-still-looks-likely-290154\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The consequences of USA policies have impacted the world severely. Is it a failed state?<sup><a href=\"#footnote_4_2434\" id=\"identifier_4_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"there is a lot of talk about third world countries becoming failed states; however, the USA is showing all the signs with its loss of democratic governance and abandonment of the &ldquo;global order&rdquo;\">4<\/a><\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #cf2e2e;\" class=\"stk-highlight\">The Issue<\/span> &#8211; How will we manage when the water runs out? Wasting it seems silly.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today&#8217;s reliable information comes to us courtesy of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.<sup><a href=\"#footnote_5_2434\" id=\"identifier_5_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"Full disclosure: Peta was Senior Project Manager for The Living Murray Initiative, appointed by COAG and is no longer working for anyone!\">5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Issues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Growing population<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a world wide problem but lets focus on Australia and Ballarat. The rapid increase in population and urbanisation has meant that fresh water availability has become a problem. Major cities have captured almost all the available water resources by damming rivers and are resorting to desalination to handle periods of drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perversely, the growing populations of cities limit the capacity to extend catchments while increasing the demand. There is no indication that Ballarat or Australia is seeking to limit population to more sustainable levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Water Usage<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daily water usage per capita in Australia is very high at 177l (ABS) and our usage is 4<sup>th<\/sup> highest in the world \u2013 this is despite restrictions in place in many places. Tap water is purified and safe to drink. It is also used to flush toilets, water gardens and wash clothes, dishes and people. Those things do not necessarily need such pure\/treated water. Where is it used?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"718\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png?resize=718%2C465&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2435\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5440860215053764;width:718px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png?w=718 718w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png?resize=300%2C194 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png?resize=160%2C104 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Household ~15%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Industry ~85%\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Agriculture is the main user<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"719\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png?resize=719%2C414&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2436\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7367149758454106;width:719px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png?w=719 719w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png?resize=300%2C173 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png?resize=160%2C92 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trends?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trend for about 20 years (post millennium drought) was from a modest decrease to a significant increase of 13% in recent years. This is due to population increase as well as drought conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who pays?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">?&nbsp; Households paid an average of $3.71&nbsp;per kilolitre, up 4.4% from 2022\u201323.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">?&nbsp; Industry paid an average of $0.35&nbsp;per kilolitre, down 3.4% from 2022\u201323.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Water for Ballarat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ballarat is due to have a population of around 200k by mid century. It currently only waters its population with the addition of Goulburn River water via the Goldfields pipeline. How will we have 40% more water in the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Being at the top of the water catchment means there is limited ability to extend existing catchments. Other catchments like Mt Emu Creek are also limited in capacity. Adjacent rivers like West Moorabool have little flow already.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We are left with water efficiency as the key approach<ul><li>Water tanks for garden watering<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Reuse of waste water<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Urban stormwater capture<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>More transfers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #9b51e0;\" class=\"stk-highlight\">The Response<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can we do &#8211; Together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you can, get water tanks to supply toilet flushing and garden watering needs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lobby local governments to improve waste water reuse<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduce domestic usage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insist on efficient industry water usage and at fair prices<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More water wise housing developments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Resist the Agribusiness lobbies wanting to keep our water for themselves<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #9b51e0;\" class=\"stk-highlight\"><strong>The final takeaway is that we know what we can do to make it better and we need a concerted effort to bring about change &#8211; TOGETHER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<div style=text-align:right;><\/div><ol class=\"footnotes\"><li id=\"footnote_1_2434\" class=\"footnote\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/we-really-do-earnestly-believe-ai-could-kill-all-humans-if-ai-labs-are-so-worried-about-ai-doom-why-dont-they-stop-291595\">https:\/\/theconversation.com\/we-really-do-earnestly-believe-ai-could-kill-all-humans-if-ai-labs-are-so-worried-about-ai-doom-why-dont-they-stop-291595<\/a><span class=\"footnote-back-link-wrapper\"> [<a href=\"#identifier_1_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-back-link\">&#8617;<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><li id=\"footnote_2_2434\" class=\"footnote\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-09-15\/western-renewables-link-ees-approval-ben-carroll-cost-assessment\/107154342\">https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-09-15\/western-renewables-link-ees-approval-ben-carroll-cost-assessment\/107154342<\/a><span class=\"footnote-back-link-wrapper\"> [<a href=\"#identifier_2_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-back-link\">&#8617;<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><li id=\"footnote_3_2434\" class=\"footnote\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/unemployment-rises-to-4-6-but-a-september-interest-rate-hike-still-looks-likely-290154\">https:\/\/theconversation.com\/unemployment-rises-to-4-6-but-a-september-interest-rate-hike-still-looks-likely-290154<\/a><span class=\"footnote-back-link-wrapper\"> [<a href=\"#identifier_3_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-back-link\">&#8617;<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><li id=\"footnote_4_2434\" class=\"footnote\">there is a lot of talk about third world countries becoming failed states; however, the USA is showing all the signs with its loss of democratic governance and abandonment of the &#8220;global order&#8221;<span class=\"footnote-back-link-wrapper\"> [<a href=\"#identifier_4_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-back-link\">&#8617;<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><li id=\"footnote_5_2434\" class=\"footnote\">Full disclosure: Peta was Senior Project Manager for The Living Murray Initiative, appointed by COAG and is no longer working for anyone!<span class=\"footnote-back-link-wrapper\"> [<a href=\"#identifier_5_2434\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-back-link\">&#8617;<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Togetherness Project Today\u2019s Topic \u2013 Water This week we will have a focus on water. A little on the sea and a lot on the water that falls from <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/togetherness\/episode-6\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-togetherness"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=160%2C150",160,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=300%2C200",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=750%2C500",750,500,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=750%2C500",750,500,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,true],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C400",600,400,true],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=950%2C550",950,550,true],"featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=750%2C499",750,499,true],"small-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=360%2C240",360,240,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>The Togetherness Project Today\u2019s Topic \u2013 Water This week we will have a focus on water. A little on the sea and a lot on the water that falls from the sky. Water and particularly fresh water is essential for life on land. We are running out of fresh water and there are some clear reasons for this. First up: What happened last week?: More talk about AI and its threat of extinction1 Western Renewables link approved and under a costing review2 Inflation is increasing and the Reserve Bank thinks that increasing interest rates is the way to go3 The&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/category\/togetherness\" rel=\"category tag\">Togetherness<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Peta Guy","url":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/author\/peta"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C400","author_info":{"display_name":"Peta Guy","author_link":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/author\/peta"},"modified_by":"Peta Guy","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C600","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=160%2C150",160,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=300%2C200",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=750%2C500",750,500,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=750%2C500",750,500,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633",950,633,true],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C400",600,400,true],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=950%2C550",950,550,true],"featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=750%2C499",750,499,true],"small-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?resize=360%2C240",360,240,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Peta Guy","author_link":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/author\/peta"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Togetherness Project Today\u2019s Topic \u2013 Water This week we will have a focus on water. A little on the sea and a lot on the water that falls from Continue Reading &rarr;","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OBPl-Dg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/glass-of-water.jpg?fit=950%2C633","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2442,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions\/2442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/petaguy.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}