I was paddling in warm water at the time and it seemed to me an agreeable thing, to have a flood in the middle of summer.
He didn’t seem so sure — although he’s been complaining for years about the need for over-bank flows to get benefit from all that environmental water filling up a third of Eildon.
Well, we’ve had three of them in 15 months, so he ought to be grateful.
Gratitude is not a quality I automatically associate with The Boss, though — not from where I sit, anyway. For all I do as his constant companion to amuse him, provide intellectual stimulation and sound advice, you’d think he’d up my kibble quota, at least.
I just think he’s confused because he thinks it should flood in winter and spring rather than in the middle of summer.
That’s the old way of doing things, I tell him. And I know he’s thinking about it because I’ve heard him talking to his mates about the changing weather patterns quite a lot lately.
He’s often said the CSIRO was predicting drier autumns and winters 30 years ago, with more late spring and summer rain as climate change gradually kicked in. It followed, the CSIRO said, that there would be less run-off into reservoirs for irrigation.
But any dog can tell you that we’re now getting tropical rain and big lumps of it — record daily totals we’ve never seen in these parts. So I’ve been assuring him there’ll be plenty of water for irrigation.
“So what do we grow with it, General?” he said.
“Tropical rain comes with storms, and storms come with hail, which is no good for our fruit. And a wet orchard means it’s hard to get equipment on to spray for rot and disease.
“We’ve had a lot of hail damage in our orchards again, for the second year in a row.”
He added that too much water in the growing season could diminish the flavour of the fruit as well.
“A tropical-style climate is not good for many of the things we grow here, General,” he said.
“And get ready for the mozzies. They are going to be fierce for at least a month.”
I was inclined to observe how it would be good for the fish, the ducks and the frogs, not to mention the birds, with a lot more insects to feast on.
He was eyeing me off, though, in a way that suggested to me he wasn’t ready for it.
Maybe none of us are, when I think about it. Woof!
15°C