Drought Reality
"A drought is a prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs."
(http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/livedrought.shtml)

This report faces issues of why the designed environment of a city is a critical factor in the use of water, and ultimately why living in a city habitat decreases the chance of an Australian citizen conserving water in a time of drought.

The report looks at why the average Australian citizen living in an urban environment is inclined to waste water as it is so conveniently at their disposal, and looks at those citizens in remote areas who really understand the full effects of the drought.
The paper includes research into why city residents are opposed to the introduction of recycled drinking water with a case study of the failed referendum of Toowomba in July 2006, where almost 62 percent of the voters declined the introduction of treated sewerage water for drinking, even after the government spent over $500,000 on encouraging campaigns. And also why residents in Sydney demonstrated against the proposed construction of Kurnell Desalination plant.

The paper includes discussion of the current actions taken by designers, with examples of t-shirt design competitions, advertisements in the forms of pamphlets, press advertisements, and television commercials from leading water providers and also why designers worked with Toowomba residents to create the "No vote" campaign which included letterbox drops, meetings, and also television commercials urging residents to vote no to the referendum. However one design field that has already implementing many water saving techniques is the landscape design industry, who has looked at alternative gardening styles such as Xeriscape gardening, meaning dry landscape in Greek, which involves using native plant species, minimizing the conventional lawns and planting in species groups to minimize water waste.

The report concludes that the effects of the drought could be lessened dramatically with help of designers. Suggestions include the design of a campaign to highlight the need for residents to choose recycled water for drinking or a desalination plant as an alternative. Research shows that these methods are completely safe, it is just up to the designer to encourage the change of public perception, and in doing so could dramatically increase the levels of awareness of the drought that residents in urban areas have, and in turn the amount of water being conserved.


References:
-Skatsson, Judy, ABC Science Online,
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1416663.htm
-Water vote bigger than Toowoomba's woes, Friday, 28 July 2006,
http://www.abc.net.au/water/stories/s1699774.htm
-http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/livedrought.shtml
-http://www.actew.com.au/conservation/
-Knox, Gary W.2, Landscape Design for Water Conservation 1,
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG027