CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard has called in the premiers of three drought-stricken states for talks on the water crisis.
Howard said in a statement that the meeting set for Tuesday with the premiers of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia would "explore the outlook for water delivery and to work together to develop contingencies for town and rural water supplies."
Howard noted that "the prolonged drought is having a terrible impact on farming communities across Australia. This is being compounded by water inflows to date in 2006-07 that have been significantly below historical minimal levels."
The flow of water along the Murray and Darling Rivers, supplying three major dams in the basin area spreading across the borders of all three states, have been half the previous record low levels.
Officials have warned that the dams that underpin the Murray-Darling Basin agricultural area could be empty by the middle of next year.
