Name: Lessons from the Australian city that nearly ran out of water | ABC News In-depth
Uploaded: 2022-03-02T03:23:15.337519+00:00
Duration: 345 s
Channel: ALD

The 2017 to 2019 period was the hottest and driest three-year stretch ever recorded for both New South Wales and the Murray Darling Basin.
 
For the city of Orange located in central New South Wales, the long stretch of dry, hot weather saw water levels drop to critically low levels and the city faced the prospect of running out of water.
 
But thanks to the community rallying around strict water saving measures, an innovative water recycling program and a relatively wet 2020, crisis has for now been averted.
 
However the experience shows just how vulnerable regional communities are to climate change. With climate modelling showing southern Australia will become even drier and hotter in years to come, experts argue water conservation programs like those in Orange should be the norm everywhere.

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The 2017 to 2019 period was the hottest and driest three-year stretch ever recorded for both New South Wales and the Murray Darling Basin. For the city of Orange located in central New South Wales, the long stretch of dry, hot weather saw water levels drop to critically low levels and the city faced the prospect of running out of water. But thanks to the community rallying around strict water saving measures, an innovative water recycling program and a relatively wet 2020, crisis has for now been averted. However the experience shows just how vulnerable regional communities are to climate change. With climate modelling showing southern Australia will become even drier and hotter in years to come, experts argue water conservation programs like those in Orange should be the norm everywhere.Read more: <a href="https://ab.co/2HzrTip" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ab.co/2HzrTip</a>For more from ABC News, click here: <a href="https://ab.co/2kd3ALi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ab.co/2kd3ALi</a> You can watch more ABC News content ad-free on iview: <a href="https://ab.co/39iq2Xt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ab.co/39iq2Xt</a>Subscribe to ABC News In-depth: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/abcnewsindepth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/c/abcnewsindepth</a> For breaking and trending news, subscribe to ABC News on YouTube: <a href="http://ab.co/1svxLVE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://ab.co/1svxLVE</a> You can also like us on Facebook: <a href="http://facebook.com/abcnews.au" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://facebook.com/abcnews.au</a> Or follow us on Instagram: <a href="http://instagram.com/abcnews_au" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://instagram.com/abcnews_au</a> Or even on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/abcnews" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/abcnews</a>

Introducing Orange

Why did water nearly run out?

How to conserve water

Conclusion

https://d3ev5earl6dvd0.cloudfront.net/public-media/videos/003/391/003391/video_300Qg5i.mp4

Orange, near Sydney in Australia, nearly ran out of water - here is the own's story of water conservation

Orange relies on rainwater to fill up dams. In 2017, after three dry years, the city faced what is known as a zero day scenario

With Zero Day a fresh memory, locals have taken lots of water conservation steps even today, including never leaving the tap running, not washing cars and saving water from showers into buckets for water recycling, as well as stormwater harvesting.