Archive Films

The great drought of 1976 saw rivers and reservoirs run dry during the long hot summer. This news footage from August of that year opens with shots of an elderly man collecting water from a standpipe in the street. Other residents are shown filling buckets and kettles.

There is footage of workers connecting up standpipes and shots of a stockpile of taps. Sign at the roadside warn visitors to the area not to waste water. The film also shows various views of reservoirs and rivers running dry.

There is no journalistic voiceover on this footage and some of the film is silent.