Finally, Rain In Desert Areas Of Queensland, But Not Nearly Enough To End Drought

[hatrack]

WATER is at last coursing through Queensland's desert rivers and channels, transforming the arid outback into verdant pasture as it flows towards Lake Eyre in South Australia.

Floodwaters across the Georgina-Diamantina catchment around Bedourie and the Coopers Creek catchment near Windorah are moving through the world's last unregulated wild river system, filling channels that now measure up to 5m deep after being dry for years.
"It's like a network of veins - it defies logic really. It's so spectacular," said Steve Wilson, the regional co-ordinator for Desert Channels Queensland. "We haven't had this sort of rain for probably several years."

Tussocks of native pasture have burst up across large parts of the northern reaches of the Lake Eyre basin, with Queensland bluegrass, Flinders grass and spinifex among the most common species. The dune country around Windorah will soon be covered in spectacular wildflowers.

Some areas have received three times their normal annual rainfall. Birdsville first flooded when it rained in January. Now the rains that fell upstream, at Bedourie on Eyre Creek, and over Mulligan Creek along the eastern side of the Simpson Desert, have cut the roads again. "We've woken up to water views," said Nell Brook, who lives in Birdsville and runs the Adria Downs station with husband David. "It's drought-breaking, but it's not the end of the drought because the recovery is going to be fairly long."

EDIT

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21223186-2702,00.html

[kestrel91316]

1. A tiny ray of hope for Oz?

[blm]

2. hatrack, thankyou.

I don't always reply, but do always check out your posts. Your vigilance on environmental issues is appreciated.