EDITORIAL - APRIL 2003

Australia is currently experiencing a severe drought. The impact of the drought, particularly on rural communities has been well documented in the media and there is much debate about whether Australia can in fact be 'drought proofed' or whether we need to accept drought as a part of Australia's climate. As Andrew Campbell, Executive Director of Land & Water Australia, argues it is time for both rural and urban Australians to abandon notions of 'average' rainfall and accept the inherent and extreme climate variability that is the nature of Australia. Likewise Dr John Williams from CSIRO Land and Water argues against the idea of 'drought proofing and suggests that we have yet to come fully to terms with the nature of our continent, its rivers and landscape. One option for dealing with drought is cloud seeding, but as Dr Brian Ryan from CSIRO Atmospheric Research argues, there is little evidence of success. An article by Melbourne Water outlines the logic behind water restrictions.

On a different theme, an article from the Australian Bureau of Statistics explores both the direct and indirect impacts of the drought on the economy. Other articles by the National Farmers' Federation and NSW Farmers Association explore both the economic and social impact of the drought and discuss the value of Australia's drought policy. The National Drought Policy is based on the fact that drought is a normal part of the Australian climate. It bases its approach on the principle that farmers should manage the risk of climate variability along with the other business risks. However, the policy also allows for the existence of droughts that are so severe that even the best farm manager could not be expected to be prepared for their impact - 'exceptional circumstances' droughts.

Finally, on a different note, an article by the Australian Conservation Foundation links drought to climate change and argues that this is the first drought where the impact of human-induced global warming can be clearly observed. Given the link with climate change the ACF argues that severe droughts will become much more frequent within the next 30-70 years.

There are therefore many issues! We hope that these articles stimulate debate and discussion about the impact of drought and encourage you to think about how we all need to think differently.