Stories from Australia
The #RunBlue journey kicked off in the heart of Australia, beginning at Uluru and covering some of the country’s most iconic and water-challenged regions. The route spanned the nation’s driest town, the Painted Desert, the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Tracks, and the Narrabri region, where innovative technology is optimising water use in Australia’s cotton country. The Australian leg wrapped up in Sydney and Melbourne, showcasing the vast and varied landscapes that highlight the country’s relationship with water.
Run Blue meets with Australian cotton farmers and the Bayer team
We visited cotton farmers in Australia to learn more about their water usage and how they maximise efficiency while farming their crops. We also had a round-table discussion with the Bayer team to discuss how water can be best managed as part of their commitment to sustainable development.
Farmer Scott Palmer shows that water innovation is at the forefront of environmental adaptation
We met Scott Palmer, a date farmer from Coward Springs in the Australian outback. His story is unique because it’s uncommon for farmers to use water with high levels of saline for their produce. Despite the norm, Scott's drip water system successfully uses water from the salty Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre for his produce.
#Runblue visits australia’s driest town, oodnadatta
We met Peter during Marathon 5 in Oodnadatta, the hottest and driest town in Australia. Temperatures reached an excruciating 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) in the 1960s, and the town experiences very little rainfall annually. Peter told us they've experienced higher temperatures and longer summers since the early 1990s.
learn more about australia’s lake eyre basin
The Lake Eyre Basin is one of the largest and most pristine desert river systems on the planet, supporting 60,000 people and a wealth of wildlife. Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is about 700km north of Adelaide, covers more than 9,000 sq km and is the lowest point on the Australian mainland. We spoke to Lyal, a local who explained how he's lived in the area his whole life but has only seen the lake full twice in 1956 and 1974.