Water shortages in AustraliaFirst of all it is necessary to define what the term “water shortage” means. For some people it means having to constantly travel long distances just to reach a source of fresh water and collect it. For others, water scarcity means making do with water for only part of the day. Finally, there are some regions where people suffer from drought which causes a large number of deaths. Therefore, in the modern world, the problem of fresh water shortage has become a burning issue, which needed an immediate solution. According to Peter Rogers, it is unfair to consider that the supply of drinking water is a problem that only concerns developing countries with high population densities. It is easy to see that freshwater shortages are meanwhile also becoming more common in developed countries, for example in the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom. In this essay I will study and analyze the reasons for the critical situation that exists in Australia. (Rogers, 2008) Firstly, Australia is a very arid continent. Compared to other countries, rainfall in Australia is low. Therefore, the dry climate in most of the continent leads to droughts and forest fires, which are corollaries of water scarcity. The most life-threatening situation is found in the Murray-Darling River basin in southeastern Australia, one of the largest river basins in the world. In recent years the territory surrounding it has withered and burned in prodigious fires. It was a sequence of misguided government policy that divided the river among consumers and “allowed participants to trade water and commercialize water rights.” Furthermore, this problem affects not only humans, but also the natural inhabitants of aquatic ecosystems – water and m...... middle of paper ......, and Susan Leal. Running out of water: The looming crisis and solutions to preserve our most precious resource. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print."Water Use." Australian water resources. Australian Government National Water Commission, 30 May 2011. Web. .J. Henderson, G. Woodard “FUNCTIONING OF AGING LOW-CONSUMPTION TOILETS IN TUCSON” 2000http://www.map-testing.com/assets/files/Henderson,%20J.%20and%20G.%20Woodard%20%282000% 29 %20Working%20of%20Aging%20Low consumption%20Toilet.pdfWade, Beth. “Tapping into solutions to water shortages.” June 1, 2000. Penton Media Inc.. April 7, 2008."What are we doing about it?" State of South Australia's environment. South Australian Environmental Protection Authority, n.d. Web. .