Conserving water more important than freeway pollution

6 FEBRUARY 2000

Water conservation issues are the most important local environmental issue for Albury-Wodonga residents, even surpassing the proposed freeway, according to findings from a survey conducted by Charles Sturt University researcher Jonathon Howard.

Water conservation issues are the most important local environmental issue for Albury-Wodonga residents, even surpassing the proposed freeway, according to findings from a survey conducted by Charles Sturt University researcher Jonathon Howard.

When asked to nominate the most important current environmental issues for the Border region, 81 per cent of respondents mentioned water conservation, with transport issues such as the freeway ranked second.

Only ten per cent of respondents could not list a local environmental issue. Mr Howard noted that environmental concerns have changed in recent years. In a similar survey completed in 1998, the top environmental issue was found to be the internal freeway, with various water issues, including the state of the Hume Dam wall, also considered important.

In the latest survey, the most common water conservation issues mentioned were water wastage and irrigation.

"People were particularly concerned with water wastage, with comments such as how much are we wasting on maintaining beautiful gardens and for people running hoses for hours, there should be certain hours that they can run hoses," Mr Howard said.

"The other concern was with the agricultural practice of flood irrigation, commonly used in irrigating grazing pastures and growing rice. People were disturbed what they see as the excessive amounts of water used for irrigation and that 'far too few people have control of far too much water'.

"The results show that people on the Border are very concerned about water conservation and believe that a few key groups or behaviours are letting the wider community down," he said.

Mr Howard was heartened by the growing numbers that have changed their habits to conserve water.

"In the recent survey, 87 percent of respondents reduced water use by watering gardens at night, installing timers and fixing dripping taps. This compares with 70 per cent in 1998.

"Results indicate Border residents have a deep connection with the Murray River and understand that water is a limited, precious resource that must be used wisely. Users who, in the eyes of the community, do not use water wisely will be increasingly blamed for problems such as salinity, algal blooms, and poor water quality," Mr Howard said.

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