2 Texans Down Under

Two liquids, water and gasoline or petrol, are big news here this week, as is the case in many parts of the world.

The good news is that we’ve had rain, glorious alternating bands of light to heavy rain for more than a day, ending this morning, about three inches of unexpected wet stuff here in Brisbane. That’s about twice the normal June total.

News reports say farmers south and west of here, who’ve missed out on earlier rains this year, also got welcome totals.

The three lakes (called “dams” here) that are Brisbane’s main water source — Wivenhoe, Somerset, and North Pine — have all caught some runoff and their total content is approaching 40 per cent, the point at which water-use restrictions here would be eased back a notch.

The largest, with about two-thirds of the storage capacity of the three, is Wivenhoe and it is often shorted by weather systems that soak Brisbane. Located well inland from the coastline, where rain is almost always heaviest here in Australia, it’s increase yesterday was less than two-tenths of one per cent of capacity.

Worse, government bar graphs show a decline from nearly 30,000 megalitres of stored water in the three dams in April, 2005, to just over 10,000 in April, 2008, roughly the time we’ve been living here. (Honest, though, we’re not at fault; the two of us use just a bit more water daily than Brisbane’s Council has set as a usage goal for one person.)

Petrol is another matter, of course. While the gasoline pumps seem to be delivering ample supplies, the cost has soared here as it has in the United States and elsewhere. Unleaded regular was selling this morning at our local 7/11 for about $1.43/litre or roughly 5.15 US dollars per gallon.

I put in premium on the recommendation of a Prius mechanic and paid $5.40 US per gallon ($1.51/litre). Diesel currently costs about $6.05 US per gallon ($1.70/litre). Prices fluctuate here all week and Tuesdays are usually the low-price days before price hikes leading up to high-demand weekends.

Since we have a hybrid and drive it an average of 270 miles per month, we’re not much bothered by these prices, but we know most people are. I have brothers in Texas, for example, who need $100 to $150 to fill the tanks of their pickups, and I’m sure lots of commuters into Brisbane’s central business district spend almost that much on petrol every week.

Kevin Rudd got elected Prime Minister in part because he indicated that he might be able to lower fuel and grocery prices and the Opposition government is doing all it can to highlight his failure, thus far, to do so. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be handling very well the resulting political flap.

How much worse will it get? Don’t we all wish we knew.

Meanwhile, I keep seeing Google ads for systems promising to lower my petrol costs by allowing me to “burn water” in my car’s engine, evidently mixed with the gasoline. Even if there is a gadget that will do that, around here it may not inspire too much hope. Who can say how much water will cost here in Brisbane soon if the trends of the past few years continue?

After all, someone sent me a picture last week of a sign proclaiming that beer, in the US at least, is now cheaper than gasoline. Conclusion: “Drink, don’t drive.”

Drink, don’t bathe could be next.