Australia

Australia's rivers are running dry. This is how it's affecting the locals

The trunk of a gum tree glows as the sun sets over what is left of the Darling River in Menindee, Australia, September 29, 2019. Lined with river red gums, the Darling also waters some of Australia's richest grazing land. Reduced to a string of stagnant mustard-coloured pools, fouled in places with pesticide runoff and stinking with the rotting carcasses of cattle and fish, the Darling River is running dry. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy SEARCH "NEARMY DROUGHT" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. - RC1A85F053D0

Many people now avoid using tap water, opting for bottled instead. Image: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy

Tracey Nearmy
Reporter, Reuters
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Ngiyaampaa girl Punta Williams poses for photographs on the dry riverbed before performing at Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival on the banks of the Darling River in Wilcannia, New South Wales, Australia, October 1, 2019. Recently, Aboriginal communities held special festivals along the river
Image: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
A field is sprinkled with the remnants of cotton after a harvest in Trangie, Australia, September 4, 2019. The parched earth of Australia's longest waterway, if tributaries are included, is in the grip of the continent's most severe drought in a century. Drought is weighing on economic growth, and the dire conditions have prompted Australia, a major wheat exporter, to import the grain for the first time in 12 years. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy SEARCH
Image: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Elanor (Golly) Fay Sloane walks along the dry banks of the Menindee Creek which runs into the Darling River in Menindee, Australia, September 27, 2019. Prolonged drought exacerbated by demands on water resources by irrigators and cities means the Darling River (Barka) is running dry. The towns of Menindee and Wilcannia avoid drinking tap water, relying instead on charity donations of 10-litre boxes of water and rain tank water for potable uses. Sloane says she feels depressed when she thinks about the state of the river,
Image: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
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AustraliaWaterSDG 06: Clean Water and SanitationFuture of the Environment
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