The parched remains of a mangrove lies testament to the devastating effects of salination in the drought ravaged Gayngaru wetlands of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, 04 December 2005. Gayngaru was once a popular camping site and fertile hunting ground for the Yolngu Aborigines as well as an important source of freshwater and their traditional foods: magpie geese, tortoises and water chestnuts.Australia © AFP PHOTO/Torsten BLACKWOOD


Growing pains
05/03/2009 5:47 pm

It sounded like a revolting joke. The vegies at Werribee had been drinking treated sewage from the nearby treatment plant for barely two years, when the lettuce leaves started turning yellow.

 

The "discolouration", as it was officially dubbed, was accompanied by stunted growth in several crops, and the public profile of recycled water duly took another battering. The Age.