Ancient water source vital for Australia

_ By Michael Perry in Sydney  _

People stand on a platform overlooking an
 underground spring known as The Bubbler
Mound Spring which is fed by the  Great
Artesian Basin in South Australia. — Reuters

If artesian pressure falls too far, due to excessive extraction of water, the ancient water source will be unreachable, except through costly pumping. Lying as much as two kms below ground, some parts of the basin are three km deep from top to bottom. The basin was formed between 100 and 250 million years ago and consists of alternating layers of waterbearing sandstone aquifers and non-waterbearing siltstones and mudstones.

Basin water is extracted through bores and is the only source of water for mining, tourism and grazing in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia states, and the Northern Territory. The underground water spawns A$3.5 billion (US$2.4 billion) worth of production a year from farming, mining and tourism, says the Great Artesian Basin Co-ordinating Committee.

The mining and petroleum industry extracts 31,000 megalitres of basin water a year, which is used in production or pumped out as a by-product of mining, and is vital for future expansion. Mining giant BHP-Billiton draws about 11,680 megalitres a year from the basin to operate its Olympic Dam gold, copper and uranium mine in South Australia. It would treble water usage under a plan to double production, with the extra water drawn from the basin and a new desalination plant.

Swiss-based miner Xstrata Plc is looking at the basin as a water source for what would be Australia’s biggest open cut thermal coal mine, at Wandoan in Queensland, which would supply 20 million tonnes a year, with a mine life of 30 years. But the pastoral industry is by far the biggest user, taking 500,000 megalitres a year to water some of Australia’s most productive farmlands. Angus Emmott runs a cattle property called Moonbah in central Queensland and relies on basin water in times of drought.

Basin water threatened
“The bores underpin the social and economic value of this huge inland area of Australia where there wasn’t permanent fresh water,” said Emmott. “With climate change, we will be more reliant on the Great Artesian Basin, so we’re morally obliged to make the best use of that water...so we don’t waste it.”

Since it was first tapped in 1878, an estimated 87 million megalitres has been extracted and up to 90 per cent of it wasted.
As a result of falling water pressure, more than 1,000 natural springs have been lost and one-third of the original artesian bores have ceased flowing.

The extraction of ancient basin water into the atmosphere also contributes to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, releasing 330,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. A 15-year Great Artesian Basin Sustainability project started in 1990 aims to protect the water supply and the hydraulic pressure necessary to access it.

Today, there are still some 3,000 bores which pour water into 34,000 kms of open bore drains, with 90 per cent of the water evaporating in the outback heat. But more than 1,052 bores have now been controlled and tens of thousands of kilometres of open drains removed and pipelines laid, saving 272 gigalitres of water a year.

Farmers are now fencing off bores and using mobile telephone, satellite and computer imaging technology to control livestock access to bores and control bore flows. “Bores and springs that had previously ceased to flow have begun to flow again. It’s a huge change to land management and has allowed better pasture and stock management,” said Emmott. “With the capping and piping programme you don’t get the bogging of domestic animals, you don’t get the maintenance cost of drains and you don’t get soil salination,” he said.

Sustainable usage
Farmers and scientists say it is crucial that more work is done to avoid a water crisis in the Great Artesian Basin as there will be greater demand on basin water in the future. “It is absolutely crucial for the existence of communities that it is looked after,” said Emmott. “We realise there is a lot there, but we need to look after it very carefully because it needs such a huge time for recharge that if we lose it now it will not recharge in human lifetimes.”

A A$17 million long-term sustainability report on the Great Artesian Basin announced this month will look at how to ensure water for future mining, pastoral and environmental development. The global commodities boom in recent years has seen mining activity over the basin increase dramatically and authorities expect the mining industry’s extraction will continue to rise.

“An expansion in exploration and mining activities in the area will place increased demands on securing groundwater allocations for economic development,” said Andy Love, from Flinders University in Adelaide, who will lead the study. “Clearly a balance between development and environmental protection needs to be achieved. However, this is not possible without increased knowledge about the amount of groundwater that can be safely extracted,” said Love. — Reuters

Seeking happiness as a street artist

_ By Frederic J Brown in Beijing  _

 XI Fu’s name in English means Seeking Happiness and the Chinese street artist who has almost no use of his hands remains firmly on that path despite his handicap. Xi, 30, was dropped by a nurse shortly after birth, causing the disability which has given him trouble walking as well as the problems with his hands.

He went to school for three years before being forced to drop out because the school found it too time-consuming to teach him, even though he had become as adept at using his toes and feet as others using their fingers and hands. When he was 18, his mother took him to an arts centre and asked about painting lessons for her son.

Seeing that Xi was smart and confident as well as skilled, the teacher was sure he could help and explained to Xi that many people made a living from art. After three years of one-on-one training, the teacher declared it was time for the then 21-year-old “foot artist” to hit the streets and earn a living.

Street artist Xi Fu, who’s name means seeking happiness, attracts a crowd while writing
calligraphy with his feet in Beijing. — AFP

For the past nine years Xi has roamed across the Chinese capital, writing calligraphy and painting flowers with his feet. In a good month he can earn 3,000 yuan ($430), more than many Beijing office workers, selling his works for 100-200 yuan each. While Xi said he has a passion for his work, he says it is not an easy life.

Often he sets up his paint brushes and scrolls in one of the city’s many pedestrian underpasses, though he must dodge police who would force him to move. He often also comes across insensitive and rude people, but said he accepts his fate. “It doesn’t matter if you are normal or disabled, everyone has his or her bad moments.” In his more private moments, he admits, there is inner pain as he believes his disability makes it difficult for him to find a wife or girlfriend.

But Xi remains cheerful, pragmatically accepting his lot in life and confessing to feeling uncomfortable if he thinks people are pitying him. “I’d like to find a girlfriend, but who wants a boyfriend who is disabled?” he said. “Women like you for your money, so even if you are disabled but have money maybe a woman can like you, but if you are disabled and poor there is no chance.” He believes that finding a partner who is also disabled could become problematic when they are older and unable to help one another.

As he lives with his parents, who own their home in a rural suburb south of Beijing, the money he earns enables him to have fun and socialise with his performance-artist friends. He particularly likes relaxing drinking soda — an act he delicately performs with his feet, pouring soda from a bottle held in one foot into a glass held in the other. He also loves music and can sometimes be found at local bars in the heart of Beijing’s ancient Drum and Bell Tower neighbourhood, drinking or dancing to live music by Chinese folk and rock bands.

Xi said he overcomes his disability by living in the present, aware that he can work to earn a living and thankful he has good friends. When asked what he will do when one day he can no longer earn a living, he replied defiantly: “I don’t want to think about that so much now. I’m not afraid and only think about being happy.” — AFP

All my films will star my son
Adhyayan: Shekhar Suman

 
Shekhar Suman and his 20-year-old son Adhyayan (left)

ACTOR Shekhar Suman is not interested in talking about his 20-year-old son Adhyayan’s reported affair with actress Kangana Ranaut. Instead, he talks about how all the films made by his production house will star his son. Shekhar launched his production company Windmill Entertainment in association with UTV last year and is planning to produce television shows and films.

“Hopefully, we will be producing a couple of films next year which will have Adhyayan. In fact, all my films will have Adhyayan,” Shekhar said. “Every producer who has an actor-son makes films for him. Rakesh Roshan does it for his son (Hrithik) as well as many other producers. Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.

Adhyayan, whose debut film Haal-E-Dil was a box office dud, will be trying his luck again in Mahesh Bhatt’s Raaz. “His first film did not do well but his performance was appreciated,” Shekhar said.Adhyayan’s reported love affair with popular actress Kangana has been much talked about, but Shekhar wants his son to concentrate on his career. He does not even see marriage in the near future.

“Adhyayan is just 20. How can he get married? He has to go a long way,” Shekhar said. Refusing to comment on their relationship, Shekhar said: “I think all these personal questions need to be put to them and not me.” Shekhar said he is confident that Adhyayan will get his due in Bollywood after the release of Raaz and Jashn.

“2008 was not good, but 2009 will be good for him as the two films Raaz and Jashn will be releasing in which he has done commendable work. And the praise for his acting came from one of the most able directors of Bollywood like Mahesh Bhatt, which means a lot,” Shekhar said.
Both films are being produced by Bhatt’s Vishesh Films.

As far as his own acting assignments were concerned, Shekhar said he was working for a couple of films with Anand Mahendroo, who produced the hit comedy show Dekh Bhai Dekh for Doordarshan in the early 1990s. “After working with Anand Mahendroo for Dekh Bhai Dekh, I am doing two films for him after a long time,” Shekhar said. “Besides, he is planning a film on Dekh Bhai Dekh of which I will be an integral part.” — IANS

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