A short item on the ABC Rural News yesterday grabbed my attention, about a Namibian scientist talking to locals in far west New South Wales about harvesting water from fog.

There's more on the Fog Collection Project at the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre website, and on the Canadian website fogquest.org.

Fog collection may be useful out on the plains where they have heavy fogs during winter. Not sure if the smog of a Sydney morning would be that healthy.

Meanwhile, John Winston Howard has finally acknowledged the importance of rainwater tanks in battling Australia's water crisis by, er, well read on...

"I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government will provide $17.7 million to Scouts Australia for the installation of rainwater tanks in Scout halls across the nation.

This funding will assist the Scouts to generate significant water savings while at the same time providing a tangible and ongoing demonstration of actions we can all take to conserve our precious water resources...

There is no more fitting way of commemorating 100 years of Scouting worldwide than helping the Scouts of Australia in this practical way to learn about and practise wise water use."

(source, pm.gov.au, 4.5.07)

What about doing something about all those carbon-emitting campfires? And let's see how much money is allocated for rainwater tanks in next Tuesday's budget For All Of Us™.