Wungong Reservoir near Roleystone, Western Australia. 2012. It is a little known fact that Australia has less rainfall than Saudi Arabia. Water is so scarce that in parts of Australia fresh drinking water now has to be obtained  from desalination plants that distills sea water into fresh drinking water to supplement local supplies. Western Australia around Perth has had a severe water shortage for about the last 12 years.

Many farmers, particularly in the early days had to rely on windmills as their only source of a fresh water supply for homestead and stock. In places rivers (when they are not dry or salty) can be hundreds, of miles apart. During severe droughts crops whither, stock die and at times farmers are forced to just walk off their land.