Drought threatens irrigation supply for much of Australia

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia's worst drought on record got tougher Thursday when the prime minister announced there won't be enough water for irrigation along the country's largest river system unless there's significant rainfall soon.

Prime Minister John Howard, releasing a new report on the health of the Murray-Darling rivers, said the dry spell was "unprecedentedly dangerous" for Australian farmers and the economy as a whole.

"If it doesn't rain in sufficient volume over the next six to eight weeks, there will be no water allocations for irrigation purposes in the basin" until May 2008, he told reporters in Canberra.

The Murray-Darling river basin spans five Australian states and accounts for about 85 percent of the nation's irrigation supply. The waterway generates around 40 percent of Australia's farm produce and supplies drinking water for the South Australia state capital, Adelaide.

But the country's prolonged drought has reduced the rivers to a trickle, crippling Australia's farming sector and forcing many cities and towns to enact drastic water restrictions as reservoirs dry up.

Howard said there would be water only for "critical urban supplies" plus farmers' domestic use and watering stock.

"The impact that this is going to have on industry, on the horticultural industry and crops like grapes and stone fruits and other primary industries that rely on irrigation, including the dairy industry, is very critical indeed," Howard said.

National Farmers' Federation Chief Executive Ben Fargher said thousands of farmers could lose their citrus, almond and olives trees if they cannot be watered this year.

Climatologist Blair Trewin, of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said the basin's northeast had more than a 60 percent chance of above-average rainfall before June. The southern part was likely to experience average rain in the same period.