In common with many cities around the world, Brisbane is now facing severe water shortages. That's meant I've just spent a big chunk of this afternoon filling watering cans to tend to our vegie garden. There is nothing like the taste of freshly grown vegetables, but soon that will be a distant memory. When the next level of water restrictions kicks in, we won't even be able to use watering cans (despite the fact that they are less efficient on gardens than hoses, given the spillage between tap and garden). I'm wet and I'm angry! I can understand a hose ban for people who wash their cars or spray leaves off their driveways, but not for people who have spent years building up gardens - be they for food or for simple pleasure. A reliable source tells me that less than 9 per cent of water usage is by households; the rest is by government and industry. I also believe I am right in saying that no new dams have been built for at least 20 years despite the population of south east Queensland growing by up to 1500 people a week. The simpletons who now demand that we let our gardens die are essentially the same ones who did nothing for a long, long time, and who continue to fail to rein-in the really big water consumers.