Twelve months ago the intrepid Stop Press team embarked on a 4 day, 1800 km trip to see at first hand the plight of many of southeast Queensland's dams. This journey was inspired by the Queensland State Government's announcement in April '06 that a dam would be built on the Mary River, near Traveston (just south of Gympie).

What we found on this trip was visually disturbing enough... and not a future we wanted to see bestowed upon the fertile Mary Valley. However, twelve months ago there was still strong optimism that good summer rains would set things right.

So, twelve months on... and we retraced part of our trip. The summer was hot and dry; the anticipated rains never eventuated; the population of southeast Queensland continued to increase; and not suprisingly, the dams are now an even more disturbing sight.

Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams are now the only two major supply dams for Brisbane. At the time of our latest visit, Wivenhoe has dwindled to around half the volume of last year, or 13% of total capacity, which some say equates to less than 18 months supply. It's alarming to think what another dry summer will bring...

This album provides compelling evidence of dams that are not working. If we've learnt anything in the past twelve months, it's been the folly of having all our water supply eggs in the one basket and of trying to counter climate change by building more dams.