General News
5 February, 2023
Children of the drought
Climate Eyes is a book which captures the grassroots stories of survival and adaptation through the eyes of Wimmera Mallee residents who lived through the devastating Millennium drought of 1999 to 2009. The Warrack Herald this week publishes the...
Climate Eyes is a book which captures the grassroots stories of survival and adaptation through the eyes of Wimmera Mallee residents who lived through the devastating Millennium drought of 1999 to 2009.
The Warrack Herald this week publishes the second in our series of excerpts, featuring the story of Beulah's Maddi McCredden and her family.
Enjoy the read...
THE Millennium Drought meant there was a whole generation of children through the Wimmera-Mallee who knew nothing but the dry through their early years.
Born in the late 1990s, Maddi McCredden had never seen her home in anything but drought until she was 12 and big floods hit.
Growing up at Beulah East in the southern Mallee, Maddi has vivid memories of how limited water influenced every facet of farm life on the farm.
“Things like (the Grampians-Wimmera Mallee Water mascot) Phil The Bucket, having timed showers and then bucketing that water back out onto the garden, I can remember all those things relating to water and to saving water so clearly,” Maddi said.
“There was a real feeling of tension in the community, which only now as an adult, reflecting on it, you can understand.
"All the reports of the drought and the fires, and the talk about how it never used to be like this, the stress about failed crops and money - it was a tough time.
"When the floods came I remember wading out in the Yarriambiack Creek near school and looking at all the water bugs. They used to be common but we’d never seen them before.”
Maddi’s mother Prue said her daughters Maddi, Bridget and Charlotte missed out on everyday experiences due to the lack of water.
“They missed out on the joy of playing under a sprinkler and the first time they got to see and play under a sprinkler - when visiting their grandparents outside the drought zone - they were so excited,” Prue said.
Prue said a pre-emptive decision to use government rebates to install more rainwater tanks helped the family maintain some sort of a garden, as did a switch to hardier species.
“I came up from the Western District when I was married and had high hopes of putting in a beautiful English cottage style garden. The drought taught us those sort of plants just aren’t suited to the Mallee,” she said.
While the drought was tough, both Prue and Maddi said the tight-knit local community tried to keep life as normal as possible for kids, through school projects to installing shade sails and a grey water sprinkler system.
“The community was fantastic in how it all came together, we had events and concerts and we kept on going,” she said.
Maddi said the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline, which replaced leaky channels, had changed the landscape.
“It is nice to have just that little bit of water in the weir pools along the creek and a bit of green grass, it makes the region as a whole more liveable,” she said.
Water has also made the region more attractive for young people to move to the area to work.
“It’s great to see a lot more diversity in the region than when I was growing up.
"We’ve got a fantastic community of Indian nurses at Warracknabeal (hospital) and they really like the area for the most part, but people probably need to be made more aware of what a move to the region really means.
"We have wonderful open spaces, we have friendly communities but equally there is a lot we don’t have.
"There is little public transport, there aren’t the array of art galleries and other entertainment you find in the city and that can often catch people by surprise when they arrive.
“I think if people have a clearer idea of what life is going to be like when they move here, we are more likely to attract people who will stay for longer.”
The pipeline may have created more water security, but old habits die hard for Maddi.
“I still only run the dishwasher/washing machine every couple of days with very full loads to save water, take quick showers, don’t leave hoses on, have bottles of rain water saved in the fridge just in case - all that is a result of the drought, which is probably a positive overall.”
Prue said it was great to see the drought in the rear view mirror.
“It was very tough at the time, but we definitely learnt a lot about living through dry periods and hopefully - although there will be drought again - it does not have that massive impact on our lives.”
LAST PAR IN BOLD SANS RAGGED RIGHT
* Tell us your story of perseverance in the face of extreme conditions - and why you refused to give up. Writers of the best three stories - up to 500 words - will receive a copy of the book Climate Eyes. Send your stories - with a picture of yourself and/or your family - to: editor@wimmeramalleenews.com.au with "climate eyes" in the subject line. Entries close Wednesday February 22.