Australian Cities Face Water Crisis

Australia’s first national audit of water resources has criticized the slow progress of water management reforms by state governments.

The audit delivered a rude shock to state premiers and chief ministers as they sat down Friday for a summit on federation issues, including water management.

With Australia in the grip of the worst drought on record, most states already have introduced water restrictions. The levels in storage dams in nearly all cities are below 50 percent and even tougher measures are being introduced in city areas.

Melbourne is facing a total ban on watering lawns by the Victorian state government, which has just announced an AUD12.5 million ($9.38 million) package in drought assistance.

However the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Water, Malcolm Turnbull, says it is clear the states are not doing enough to combat the crisis.

Clearly a lot more needs to be done, and we will use a mix of encouragement and political pressure to get things moving, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.