Place: Ballarat Date: May 2008 Author: Zac Petrie Year Level: Yr 12 School: Ballarat Secondary College – Barkly Senior Campus
Environmental issues: Water and Land
My grandparents live on a farm. They own the farm and grew up on the farm. They have been on the farm for about 30 years and my great grandfather had passed it down to them, so they have seen many, many different and significant changes to their lifestyle; how things were done and the effectiveness of the wheat and produce farming. The significant changes for them have been to water and land. There has been much less rainfall than in the last century and that has impacted all the farmers in a huge way; in crop production which has been much slower, the health status of their animals and the simple fact that they do not receive nearly as much water needed to supply the family.
The land has been another significant change as the climate is a lot dryer and hotter, which turns the land to much more of a desert wasteland than it used to be. It was a healthy green farming area. It has turned to an absolute struggle for survival for not only my grandparents but all farmers.
These changes have also affected my life, in that the water consumption needs to be reduced and water restrictions are in full effect. A significant effect this has had on the town of Ballarat is that the Wendouree Lake has turned to dust. That area used to be a place where you could go as a kid and play around or have a picnic with the family, but now no one wants to go there because the appearance of the lake is too unattractive and unappealing to the families. Even the massive playground isn’t such a used feature, because everything is yellow and covered in dust and fairy grass. These changes have been significant to both me and my grandparents.
