Errors in IPCC climate science

“Politics plugs rainwater plan” says the headline.
Completely missing the glaring issue that no matter how many residents spend their hard-earned shekels on rainwater tanks – no matter how many residents pay Mr Cameron $4000 for a rainwater collection system hoping for a smaller water bill – no matter how much this reduces their water usage piped from the water utility ACTEW which = the Govt. ACTEW will recover its costs in providing piped scheme water through water bills and rates to property owners, whether you use ACTEW water or not. Govt debt due to our water scheme has blown out by over a $1Bn in two years. Due to Labor and GreenLabor Govt mismanagement – Canberra now has a Rolls Royce water supply system – which property owners and residents will be paying for for generations with constantly increasing ACTEW charges. Property owners who feel the urge to install Green-fashionable feel-good water tanks – should check carefully before parting with their money.

A Perth reader sent me this little bombshell from June – so now the French desalination company Degrémont a part of the global SUEZ Environnement Group will “…operate and maintain water production and wastewater treatment assets for Perth.” And yes that includes the 13 dams.

The WA Govt about a decade ago decided to introduce seawater desalination and at the same time allow dams to steadily be “decommissioned” by a creeping process of not managing dam catchment vegetation. A process that has cost Perth water users about a thousand GL of water over say 15 years.
The media release is loaded with all the “expensive water” propaganda – referring to water as “precious” etc. No not precious; water is a common compound that falls free from the sky. We have to have the brains and will to collect it. Our pioneers and forefathers who built our dams would turn in their graves to think we were steadily making the dams more useless by not having the common sense and guts to thin catchment bush – due to political pressure from the Greens. As my reader in Perth said – “I can’t see Degrémont pushing catchment management as a profit centre.” Click more for text of entire media release.
Read the rest of this entry »

This latest news is talking about something that should never have come into existence – and now it has been sold to overseas interests. Only in Australia could this shambles be permitted.

I wrote on Cubbie back in 2006 I think it was – just never thought it was in the National interest and on all I have read have to conclude it was birthed on a bureaucracy that was too often asleep or turning a blind eye. But hey that’s Queensland.
From 2007 – “Queensland Govt., stunning hypocrisy over water”
From 2009 – “What has killed the cotton giant – Cubbie Station ?”

I noted in April 2009 – “Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) now run by non-meteorologist”.
Government thanks outgoing Bureau of Meteorology director, Dr Greg Ayers – 20 February 2012.
I notice that 18th July 2011 Govt announced a “Review of the Bureau of Meteorology’s Capacity”.
They said then – The review is expected to present its findings to the government by the end of November 2011.
The review is being led by Ms Chloe Munro, who brings strong commercial skills and expertise in public policy and corporate finance through her senior leadership experience in the public and private sectors both in Australia and overseas.
Now – Easter Saturday 7 April 2012 Govt advertises for new Director of BoM

Odd that they are appointing a new boss while this review is still ongoing – but most things about our Govt are a bit weird.
I have just noticed that Ms Chloe Munro must be one of the busiest people in the Federal Govt this last year or so.
Still shown as Chairman of AquaSure on their website – AquaSure is the consortium building the Victorian Desalination Project.
12 May 2011 – Ms Chloe Munro has been appointed as Chair of the National Water Commission.
Then the 18th July 2011 appointment to Review the Bureau of Meteorology’s Capacity.
And on 10 Feb 2012 we see she is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Clean Energy Regulator. Presumably the CER administers the Govts new Carbon Tax.
No wonder the BoM review is late – my head is in a spin.
Has anybody got insights re the public service history of the dynamic Ms Chloe Munro.

I had never picked that up. Explains so much. We must remember that the pontificating Wentworth Group academics have been one of the drivers influencing water prices higher this last decade. I wonder what the WWF has cost the Australian taxpayer – any data out there ?

Around the 28 Feb the BoM forecast several days of significant rain – as per this forecast map. The Canberra Times headlined – Bureau warns of regional flooding.
No doubt the BoM forecast was pretty good as a major wet week ensued – but there were few rain records across major centres in the SE of NSW for the 7 days 28 Feb – 5 Mar as the statistics from BoM stations will show – most of these centres had some flooding in the news. Note that the BoM publishes data from at least 4900 NSW stations, many of which are closed or have gaps – so hunting down rainfall statistics needs some patience.

70217 Cooma Airport AWS had 156.2mm which is easily exceeded by several historic 7 day episodes at 70023 Cooma Lambie St.; March 1950 – 182mm, July 1922 – 169mm, Jan 1934 – 196mm, June 1891 – 158mm, Feb 1873 – 170mm.

70014 Canberra Airport had 198.6mm which was exceeded by this episode in
March 1950 – 247.9mm in 6 days – there was also March 1989 – 190mm in 5 days incl 15 Mar @ 126mm.

70330 Goulburn Airport AWS had 155.6mm but only has records from 1994. So looking for other stations near or in Goulburn we find plenty that have had heavier 7 day totals.
70037 Goulburn commenced 1857; Mar 1914 – 186mm, Feb 1860 – 207mm
70038 Goulburn No 2; Mar-Apr 1950 – 187mm
70263 Goulburn TAFE commenced 1971; Jan 2006 – 185mm, Aug 1974 – 203mm

63291 Bathurst Airport AWS had 140mm but 63004 Bathurst Gaol with data from 1858 records the following 7 day totals; Jan 1976 – 164mm, Feb 1971 – 190mm, March 1950 – 166mm and March 1926 – 153mm.

63231 Orange Airport AWS recorded 155mm and even data from that station showed these previous higher 7 day totals; Feb 1992 – 250mm, Apr 1990 – 169mm, Jan 1978 – 193mm, Jan 1976 – 199mm, Feb 1973 – 195mm. Orange Post Office has a dozen more heavier 7 day totals back to 1878 – but enough for now.

65111 Cowra Airport AWS recorded 165.2mm; while 63021 Cowra PO with data from 1885-1965 recorded the following; Feb 1992 – 212mm, Jan 1958 – 157mm, Jun 1925 – 195mm, Dec 1886 – 219mm.

So, the overall impression at those towns was of a very wet week that rolls along every few decades – but far from record breaking. The BoM has put out a “Special Climate Statement 39″ – Exceptional heavy rainfall across southeast Australia, which includes some dodgy claims of less-than-robust records which I will comment on soon.

The purpose of this post is to draw attention to the Durack Development web page of David Archibald and to promote some discussion.
We know that much of the West Kimberley region in Western Australia gets over a metre of warm season rain per year and total river outflows are listed at a huge 80,000GL PA. So is it feasible to build dams and grow irrigated crops in the Kimberley’s on this scale – in the face of modern day Green anti – damism, backed by serial ranks of publically funded kneejerk PC naysayers and then at the back of all that – native title issues.

For full size map.
What could viable Kimberley irrigation projects mean in terms of northern development and net national income. I wonder what is the best structure to attempt this – would private investors stump up the capital once the multitude of project approvals was obtained.
Link here for docs outlining the West Kimberley Grain Project and other potential WA projects.
The Ord River Irrigation Area in the East Kimberley is an interesting case history and there must be many lessons there.

Replace it with river/catchment based “boards” or councils partly elected by stakeholders, partly filled by expert water engineering State appointees – which can decide on the allocation and distribution of storage water.

The MDBA has been such a colossal failure with its laughable plan in 2010 to release 4,000GL of env flows per year – a plan that triggered much outrage. There were forced changes at the top and now political appointee Labor fixer Craig Knowles has been parachuted in to save the day and comes up with this compromise 2,750GL annual waste of water. People should reject this waste just as firmly as they rejected the 4,000GL figure. Have a look at their website – playing God here and there with water – pathetic. In the face of solid November and December rains which supplied colossal quantities of water to the MDB “environment” compared to this Green inspired leaking of valuable water from our dams.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority will make minor pulsed releases from Dartmouth Reservoir over summer in an effort to improve water quality in the Mitta Mitta River.
Chief Executive Officer of the Murray–Darling Basin Authority, Dr Rhondda Dickson, today announced the release of an extra 20 GL of The Living Murray environmental water as part of a larger environmental watering currently underway in the Barmah–Millewa Forest icon site.

What a sick propaGreenda reference to – The “Living” Murray environmental water. I suppose if the MDBA does not supply the water – it must be dead water.

Simply abolish the Murray–Darling Basin Authority.

Amazing stuff – IPCC compliant organization admits fault.
Niwa concedes summer outlook off the mark
By Matthew Backhouse – NZ Herald
My earlier post;
Are the New Zealand NIWA Outlooks as useless as those of the Australian BoM ?

Check it out yourself. ACT Govt develops an idiot idea for a desalination plant to extract salt from wastewater and the Commonwealth would have kicked in $80Million if the project stacked up. Analysis showed the idea was a dog – anybody can check numbers for salt input to the Murrumbidgee downstream of the ACT and it is obvious that if the plant had been built – you would have trouble detecting the difference in salt percentage at Wagga Wagga.
Despite this – the ACT Govt still wants the $80Million ???
Truth is their water utility ACTEW is bleeding money with delays to the new Cotter Dam, plus building an unnecessary and problem prone pipeline from the Murrumbidgee River to Googong Dam, plus a lack of growth in water bill receipts. A boss with a salary package $637K. Canberra water users have been so bludgeoned into water economies that they are still economizing despite dams overflowing.
The ACT Govt longer term borrowings have blown out by over a $Bn largely due to ACTEW – according to the ACT Auditor General.
Please tell me the Commonwealth will hold on to our lousy $80Million.