DISAPPEARING WATER IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2923, 23 March 1910, Page 79

DISAPPEARING WATER IN AUSTRALIA.

A PROBLEM FOR SCIENTISTS TO |s SOLVE. When white men first set foot on the ! Australian coast, and later on.dived into I the uninviting interior, great' swamps and I lakes and lagoons were distinctive feai tares. Indeed, it appeared to one of the ! earliest explorers that the centre of the continent was an inland sea of immeasurable dimensions.. Since that' time vast changes have occurred, for there are very few of these watery areas left. In place we have the fertile plains, where no water gathers excepting for a brief period as a surplusage after heavy rains. During the pioneer days some of these, lagoons or lakes carried watfir permanently. But few of them do so now. There are | scientists who argue that the denudation 'i of the timber and the shubbery have ! had -much to do with this disappearance.. ; But their contention has not been satisfactorily proved. Others say that the sinking of the artesian bores is responsible. This, likewise, is as doubtful—although both may be contributing factors. Instances can be quoted of swamp lands in < the interior, where no clearing of any sort has ever taken place, which never hold water, now for any length of time. i Then we have the drying-up of lakes in | districts hundreds of miles away from the ! artesian belt. On the coast the ver\ best grazing lands are those which were once known as everlasting swamps. In one district it was proposed to erect come years i ago a pumping plant for the purpose of j supplying an adjacent town from a J swampy lagoon which used to carry up to of water of the most perfect quality. i The land where the lake used to be is now all cultivated. At Killarney, South Queensland, there was a lake large enough to suggest the picturesque name of the town, but the square I half-mile of water no longer exists as a. j permanent thing. As a matter of tact, it I is nearly always dry. At Bathurst there ' was Lake George, which was deep enough in the early days to float a small steamer. Now the bed of it is excellent grazing j country, not even wet enough to be called | a marsh. One of the most striking 1 examples of the evolution is the Mother of i Ducks Lake at Guyra, near Glen Innes, | which was at one time—and that only a | few years ago—the .happy, hunting ground ■ of sportsmen all the year round. Several ; small steamers and boats used to be kept there for hire. Now it is a dry plain, and ! though in a depression several feet bslow j the surrounding country, the basin does i not flood even after the heaviest rain any 1 more than an ordinary flat. It is now | used for grazing purposes, and a well on I it 20ft deep is frequently dry. Of course, I several of the\coastal swamps have been | turned to good account by the aid of ; drains, but that does not apply to the | three specific instances quoted. The j waters have just disappeared, as if the ! earth became porous and let vfi. the accumulations. These instances provide material for scientific investigation. Many I springs, too, which were once never known

to fail have given out, and do not nil these times, even after heavy rain. This change is very noticeable on the western slopes of New England, though on the eastern slopes the springs are as active as ever. It is fortunate, however, that water is procurable by sinking in most die tricts at as handy a depth as ever, even outside the artesian belt. There is an interesting case in chis connection, however, in Victoria. The bad of Lake Buloke, in the Donald district, which has been so dry lor many years that it was taken up under grazing bases, was filled once more by the summer rains. It is a depression into which the combinec streams of the Avon and Richardson Rivers lose themselves—when there is sufficient 1 water to carry that far. But i*had been dry so long, and was covered with such a fine coating of grass, that settlers were tempted to take it up on the perpetual lease system. About 100 of these leases were granted. Then the inevitable happened ; at the beginning of las' summer flood waters came down, and as they couldn't get away they filled the lake b e d_and tilled it so full that it is not likely to be dry again for another four years, assuming that no more flood watery come-down. The lessees have, therefore,' appaaled to the Crown for relief from the payment of rent. The board, however, has reported, that in its opinion the lessees should accept the situation "and continue to pay rents or else that the titles should be changed into grazing licenses under section 187 of the Land Act, for .seven years. It may turn out, however, that it will tak: much less than four years to dry up again. • If it does not it will be quite distinct to the cases quoted above, which are only typical of vast areas in Australia, once inland lakes, but now are grazing areas which seldom hold water 'or any length of time.