Wivenhoe Dam 1999 & 2007

I found the old film shot I took back in 1999 of an arm of Wivenhoe Dam, and as luck would have it, also the photo I took in June of this year of about the same spot. There are slight differences due to using different lenses and cameras to take the respective photos and I probably wasn't standing in exactly the same spot - it was 8 years ago after all.

Here they are for comparison. Both were taken from atop a bridge that traverses a back arm of the dam on the northern side of the hydro station.

See where this picture was taken.

View all photos taken: Tuesday, 14th August 2007, This photo: 4:18pm

Previous Photo: Pink Cabbage

Comments

  • bendyclickr said:
    Wow, great before and after shot David.

    We are in the same situation here in Bendigo; wish I had done the same with our main water storage. We used to water ski on Lake Eppalock, the water is now about 2 km's away from where the boat ramp is.

    --
    Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks :) It's quite remarkable just how badly our governments have handled the water situation isn't it ?
  • picsbymac said:
    Oh my....that is a scary and sobering sight...
  • David de Groot said:
    It is indeed Mel. I'd forgotten just how much water was there when I took the second photo. Quite surprising to see them together.
  • pertelote1 said:
    Woah! That is *scary*! Hope you start getting rain today.
  • flash of light said:
    We have had a bad water situation here too recently! :-)
  • David de Groot said:
    I reckon we'd need constant rain for several months to make any real difference :(

    Ah but yours has kinda been the opposite ;-)
  • traceyisanozzy said:
    OMG David, how awful, what a disgrace, and very scary too. Great job taking these, especially for comparison!

    @Bendyclickr......I used to swim out at Lake Eppalock in the 80's (and frequented the Brolga Hotel as well lol) with friends and it's very sad to hear how much the water has dropped! I know it's been a while but geez, 2 kms!!!! :-(
  • looby88 said:
    some what different from the UK where we have had rather too much of the wet stuff, wishing you rain and lots of it, preferably all at night !!
  • David de Groot said:
    Yeah scary eh ?

    It's a shame you can't just herd rainclouds like sheep eh ?
  • looby88 said:
    It is scary, livestock farmers must be tearing their hair out, stupid when you are surrounded by sea, I think we have had this discussion before about de-salination plants. !! I remember reading years ago about how the rain falls mainly on one side of Australia and seeps across the continent and how wells were being used up. Some by cattle/sheep farmers just letting them dry out. The prediction was grim reading.I am talking a lot of years ago, so my facts could be somewhat less than factual !! Still it made enough of an impression for me to remember it. What is it about people that knowing this sort of stuff we do nothing, its so short sighted. The next WWar will be about water thats my guess. Too many countries in the middle east / africa can control who gets water and who doesnt, we shall see. Sad though.

    If I could herd clouds I would send you some !
  • David de Groot said:
    Quite so. The current "worst case" scaremongering about climate change has Australia uninhabitable within 50-100 years. I don't believe a word of it, but then I reckon this climate change argument is a bit weak. Sure, climates change, but oddly enough they usually go in some form of cycle. The cycle isn't necessarily short enough for us to notice though.
    Anyway, humans are remarkably adaptable, however, considering things like water provision are something we can do something about (we in the country/government sense), it is indeed extremely short-sighted that we've ended up in this mess.

    Clouds are fine, providing they're a) rain-bearing, and b) in the shape of sheep :-P
  • The Central Scrutiniser said:
    well - i was talking to someone in the know the other day. water in the dam is currently at 16% and is going down by 1% every 3 weeks. he said 10% is going to be a psychological shock to people. he predicts massive and long lasting economic effects. businesses will be forced to close as their water is shut off.
  • David de Groot said:
    Sounds about right. The 1% every 3 weeks was the same back in May too, so I guess water consumption hasn't dropped significantly since then.
    We'd better have the mother of all wet seasons this summer....
  • leadegroot said:
    I believe Sydney has a desalination plant underway (and was encountering a maze of bureaucratic problems) but I haven't heard a word about a Brisbane one.
    I'd say "I'm not worried as we are off grid for water" - but, really, we live in a larger society that is dependant on the water supply, so *yes* I am worried!
  • David de Groot said:
    There's a desalination plant going in at Tugon (Gold Coast), as well as a recycled water pipeline (presumably from the water recycling plant - where-ever that may be).
  • The Central Scrutiniser said:
    he also said that so far the campaign to decrease consumption to 130 litres/household/day has had negligible effect. the average is still 170 litres/day...
  • leadegroot said:
    The Gold Coast? Were those pipelines to connect the Gold Coast water supply with the Brisbane water supply ever completed? :(