Insightful information on the southeastern Australia drought

A new study has come out on the drought that is bedeviling southeastern Australia:

Water Scarcity In Southeast Australia Started 15 Years Ago

"The data shows the first signs of diminishing water availability in Australia appeared somewhere between 1993 and 1996 when the rate of water resource capture and use started to exceed the rate of streamflow supply,” Dr van Dijk said.

Summary translation: when you start to take out more than's going in, you'll end up having less.

"The data also reveals that the impact of the drought on Australia’s current water resources is broadly consistent with both the historical trend and climate change predictions.

“Parts of Australia have had record low rainfall the last several years, but our records aren’t very long and the drought may still be within natural limits.”

“What makes the situation appear so much worse is that the sixties and seventies were quite wet. That’s also when we started capturing river flows in large reservoirs for our growing cities and irrigated agriculture. In retrospect it appears we have become over-reliant on what is now looking like ‘bonus’ rainfall during that time."

Summary translation: don't base long-term planning on periods of extraordinary abundance. California is learning this now. And this should also apply to every state budget in the United running-low-on-cash States of America.