Store water underground: scientists

SURPLUS rainwater should be stored underground instead of in dams to prepare for drought, a scientific study says. 
 
The National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training has made the recommendation as the federal government tables Australia's first national Murray-Darling Basin plan in parliament.

Researcher Andrew Ross says Australia should be "banking" its water underground as an alternative to traditional dams during times of heavy rain.

"There is enormous national potential to store surplus water in aquifers, ensuring sufficient water is available for cities, homes, industry, farming and the environment when drought strikes," he said in a statement.

"Historically, Australians have relied on dams to provide water for agriculture and cities.

"This strategy is not sufficient to cope with increasing climate variability or droughts as demand for food and water grows."

Up to 3000 billion litres (GL) of water a year evaporates from the Murray-Darling Basin, he said.

That level of evaporation almost matches the 3200 billion litres a year the government is hoping to flush back into the Murray-Darling Basin, under its plan unveiled last week and tabled in parliament on Monday.

Mr Ross, who has researched integrated surface water and groundwater management, said storing water underground would ensure sufficient was available for Murray-Darling Basin agricultural production and environmental flows, and avoid the shutdown of irrigation.


China to launch manned spaceship in June

China has plans to launch another manned spacecraft -- Shenzhou-10 -- in early June 2013, according to a leading space programme official.

Like in the Shenzhou-9 mission, the crew may include two men astronauts and a woman, who are scheduled to enter the Tiangong-1 space lab module, said Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of China's manned space programme, on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

"They will stay in space for 15 days, operating both automated and manual space dockings with the target orbiter Tiangong-1, conducting scientific experiments in the lab module and delivering science lectures to spectators on the Earth," he said, adding that the selection for the crew will begin in early 2013.

In the coming mission, Shenzhou-10 will offer ferrying services of personnel and supplies for Tiangong-1, further testing the astronauts' abilities of working and living in space, as well as the functions of the lab module, he said.

"The success of this mission might enable China to construct a space lab and a space station," he said.
China plans to build its own space station in around 2020. It had initiated the manned space programme in 1992 by sending Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut, into the orbit on Shenzhou-5 spacecraft in 2003.