A COUPLE of days ago, Scott Morrison was literally a water boy.
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He was running drink bottles on to the field for rugby league players in the Prime Minister's XIII match in Fiji.
There he was, shoeless, in a dither shuffling between players trying to get water where it was needed.
Watching the leader of the country indecisively manage water supplies on a micro level, it could be said, had a touch of irony to it.
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For months now, the term "day zero" has dominated the drought dialogue as towns in NSW face the real prospect of running out of water.
Tamworth's predicament isn't the worst, but some in the council are very anxious to see the emergency fix: a pipeline from Chaffey Dam to Dungowan village done in warp speed.
Otherwise day zero becomes a realer prospect.
Water is a state asset in NSW, but this issue is nationally significant.
New England's MP, a former water minister, told the Leader the PM was coming to town with a funding pledge for a new Dungowan Dam. And it came on Sunday.
It took some time, but local leaders have finally got on the same page and made a concerted call to fund this project to help shore up Tamworth's water supply.
It is an expensive option and, if it happens, it will be one of the priciest dams ever built in Australia at nearly half-a-billion dollars.
The city obviously needs more water storage as prolonged and recurring dry spells highlight the blindingly obvious: water is a finite resource.
While the new dam might be built in the coming years, what happens in the intervening years?
How will water be supplied to Tamworth's 50,000-plus people in a worst case scenario?
Obliteration will be the political corollary at all levels if towns actually run dry.
Perhaps it is high time we begin looking at recycled and non-conventional resources for water.
After all, who knows if our water boy will have arrived in time.
