logging in water catchments

Not many years ago Melbournians trusted their State Government to manage their water supply, and trusted that the water that came out of their taps was of the very highest quality and trusted that this supply would be adequate to meet the demands of a growing population. This trust was based on the fact that founders of Melbourne had ensured that the city's domestic water supply was the best possible quality via the establishment of its closed and heavily forested catchments. However, in 2005, Melbourne, with a population of 3.5 million, is now stretching the ability of the city's dams to supply us with an adequate water supply. So serious is this situation that the Melbourne Water Corporation is predicting that the demand for water could exceed supply as early as 2012.

The prolonged drought we have been experiencing which has been caused by the Greenhouse Effect, has exacerbated problems in the water supply . Some predictions have rainfall diminishing even further as we enter a more unstable greenhouse world. Global warming will potentially reduce stream flows into catchments because the warming will lead to reduced rainfall in catchments, increased evaporation off dams and increased plant transpiration. Melbournes main water storage dam, the Thomson River Dam and its catchment area, is already experiencing a prolonged 48% drop in its average rainfall. The CSIRO estimates a further reduction in water supply due to global warming of some 20% over the next 20-25 years.

Melbourne and Western Port catchment map

Facts on logging in our water catchments

Large areas of native forest cover Melbourne's water supply catchments and so form an essential part of the water cycle within these catchments. These forests are mature in age. Mature native forest is important to the water supply because the forest absorbs the rain that falls upon it, filters it, stores it in the ground and then slowly releases it into nearby streams. This natural process can keep highland streams flowing through the harshest of Victorian summers. Some 90% of Melbourne's tap water comes from the 157,000 hectares of uninhabited native forest spread across our water catchments. These forests have the prime purpose of harvesting drinking water.

When a stable old growth forest is clearfelled, the new emerging forest uses 50% more water than the forest that was cleared. This is because of the much higher uptake and subsequent higher transpiration of the regrowth forest. Research has shown that it takes the clearfelled forest 150 years to revert back to its per-logged rate of water use.

During logging operations, the bulldozing of access roads to the logging coups and the destruction of the mature forest adds thousands of tonnes of sediment and other pollutants into the adjacent water courses. This sediment flows into our dams, lowering water quality and reducing the life expectancy of the dam though the silting process.

In addition to these disturbances, there is the breaching of the "Forest Code Of Practice" by logging into buffer zones for watercourses, and the abandonment of fuel drums in logged areas, left by loggers. Both these practices have been well documented. Then, as part of the logging process, the cleared coup is burnt. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) then lays poison bates to kill wallabies and other grazing native animals to ensure the forest regrowth. The practice of laying poison is thought to be one of the major reasons why populations of the already highly endangered Spotted-tailed Quoll have crashed throughout all Victorian forests.

These disturbances are presently taking place within Melbourne's biggest and most important catchment, the Thompson River Catchnment. The industrial logging taking place there is compromising both the quality and quantity of water being harvested there. While this logging is making a hansom profit for a selected few, the tax payer is being left to foot the bill for the long term environment damage. The protozoa events in Sydney in 1998 shows what huge costs can be occurred when a catchment providing drinking water becomes contaminated. The population of Sydney was stunned by multiple warnings to boil all their drinking water. The water supply was shut-down in some areas while decontamination of infrastructure was carried out. Investigations showed that Cryptosporidium and Giardia contaminated Sydney's water supply "The Inquiry found that the main catchment from which Sydney draws its drinking water has been seriously compromised over a prolonged period of time"

In Victoria a recent report from the Infrastructure Planning Council shows that logging in the Thomson catchment costs us over $1.2 billion in lost water value alone. They warned that short rotation period in logging would require a $500 million water treatment plant for the Thomson to deal with the contamination generated. The Thomson is currently on a 61 year rotation and not the recommended 200 year rotation.

The economics of logging in Victorian water catchments

The economic benefit to Victoria of logging Melbourne's water catchments, and principally the Thompson catchment, is scandalous. The government royalties raised from the woodchip companies do not even cover the costs involved in logging. For example, they do not cover the costs of the building and maintaining of roads into the logging coups, let alone the cost of the water forgone. As part of the process of assigning an economic value to water loss due to logging, "a report estimated that in the Thomson catchment the value of water lost far outweighed the value of timber. In addition, the report stated that “if logging ceased in the Thomson catchment alone the Victorian Community would be $147 million dollars better off ".

The State Government commissioned a committee to undertake a Strategic Water Review, which resulted in a paper being released in May 2002. It stated that logging in the Thomson catchment had caused the loss of 20,000 mega-litres of water annually. If the report had considered the logging taking place in the Yarra's tributaries as well, this would amount to 30,000 plus megalitres. However, the Government has failed to act on the weight of these facts, and continues to allow the practice of clearfell logging in our drinking water catchments. This is happening in the Upper Yarra tributaries, as well as the Thomson River Catchment, which supplies approximately 60% of Melbourne's total reservoir storage capacity. In addition, the Upper Bunyip catchment which supplies water to the the Western Port Bay region and the Mornington Peninsula is currently being logging.

Unfortunately for Melbournians, their water catchments are being managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). The DNRE aims to maximise the woodchipping of our native forests wherever they maybe. This includes forests inside the Melbourne's water catchments.

With a new emphasis on making money from our water resource assets, the Melbourne Water Corporation is being forced to make up for water lost through logging in Melbourne's water cathments. They have embarked on a plan that will effectively double domestic water prices. While they have attempted to soften the impact of these price rises through a slight drop in winter water prices, the cost of water will double for the rest of the year. There will also be a new regime of more frequent and severe restrictions to force Melbournians to change their patterns of water use to limit their consumption of water. This would seem sensible and worthy except for the fact that the amount of water that will be saved is about the same as the amount that is lost each year through the logging of the catchments! In other words, all that water that we are being asked to save will just make up for what is lost through logging. Surely, if the government was serious about water conservation and planning for the future, it would immediately act to remove all logging from domestic water catchments to maximize the storage in in our dams.

What is clear is that there is no environmental or economic justification for logging these catchments. The government has received expert advice that logging catchments seriously harms Victoria's water supply and economy. Melbourne Water has stated that logging in our catchments is costing us water that we cannot afford to lose.

The cessation of logging in our catchments would also have very significant benefits for the environment, through improved water flows, both in and out of the dams. For example, an end to logging coupled with water saved by Melbournians through water conservation measures, could allow for water to be returned to the Thomson River. This improved environmental flow would help to improve the ecology of the river and the downstream Gippsland Lakes. The Gippsland lakes are experiencing historically low flows, frequent algal blooms and recently some very large fish kills. The Thomson River and Gippsland Lakes are slowly dying due to the lack of fresh water flows and the people of Gipppsland who live near the lakes, and commercial fishers, would like to see a higher fresh water flow returned to the lakes. This is possible, but is dependent of logging ceasing in the Thomson catchment in the near future. read more

If Melbourne Water were to buy out the timber licenses for the Thomson and Yarra tributary catchments, it is estimated it would cost $3.87 million. This is a fraction of the estimated twenty million plus dollars it would cost to bring the Tarago catchment back into the domestic water supply system. Melbourne Water assumed responsibility for Tarago Reservoir when it merged with the Mornington Peninsula and District Water Board in November 1991. At that time, the Tarago Reservoir supplied townships to the south and west of Neerim, across the Westernport area to the Mornington Peninsula. Concerns soon arose about the quality of water from Tarago Reservoir. As a result, the reservoir was taken off line in late 1994, with the intention that it would not be utilised again until a water treatment plant was constructed. This has been recognised in '21st Century Melbourne: a Water Smart City; Final Report', a fifty-year blueprint for the sustainable management of Melbourne’s water resources. It is likely that the Tarago Reservoir will be returned to service within a couple of decades. With 20% of the total catchment area private property and active farmland where Melbourne water has little say or control in its management, Melbourne Water will need to chemically treat the Tarago for it to meet safe drinking water standards. We have come to expect that our drinking water will be of the highest quality, from closed catchments. Bringing back the unprotected Tarago Dam, with its low quality water, to make up for water lost through logging is flawed and totally unnecessary.

The buying back of timber licenses to remove unsustainable logging from domestic water catchments has occurred in many forest regions of Victoria. The recent buy-back of licenses and the payment of compensation in the Otways Ranges and the creation of the Otways National Park is a good example of this. If it can happen in the Otways, it should also happen in Melbourne's water catchments.

It is estimated the 80% is woodchipped most of the rest becoming low grade palings and less than 2% is used for high grade furniture timber.

Is there an alternative

Recent expert reports state categorically that in Victoria, we have enough mature plantations in the ground today to meet all of our pine and hardwood requirements as well as pulp for Victorian paper production. They also show that currently these plantations provide enough timber to fully replace all our export woodchips, which is where 80% of trees from our catchments end up. All this without planting one new tree.

The above highlights the environmental and the economic madness of woodchipping our catchments. But there is also a serious cost to our wildlife because our water catchments provide some of the least disturbed areas of old growth forest in the state. These forests have become a haven for many endangered animals. Read More

Logging our drinking water catchments is a scandal that exposes the hypocrisy of the Brack's Government's water conservation campaign. Basically and as it stands, the Bracks Government is saying we will make you pay much more for your water, while we destroy irreplaceable forest habitat to make up for the water we loose through utterly uneconomic and unnecessary clearfell logging in water catchments.

This problem needs your help! so join the growing number of people trying to remove logging out of our water catchments. Try to create awareness of this situation by talking to friends and work colleagues. Write and encourage others to write to your/their local MP, use your own words to express your dissatisfaction with the current situation of logging our drinking water catchments. Single out the Thomson River Catchment as this will be the hardest hit by these unsustainable management practices.

Where households can save water

• Install front loading-washing machine: annual saving 16,000 litres
• Install low-flow shower roses: annual saving 13,000 litres
• Install dual-flush toilets: annual saving 13,000 litres (two thirds of homes already have them)
• Mulch garden beds: annual saving 5000 litres per 20 square metres
• Briefer showers: annual saving 17,000 litres (from 7 mins to 5 mins average)
• Install 4500 litre rainwater tank for garden and toilet: annual saving 48,000 litres (cost $2000 installed)
Average consumption for house with garden is 240,000 litres and is 180,000 litres for households
in medium density developments with restricted garden areas.

Gippsland Lakes bream gasp for fresh water

By Melissa Fyfe THE AGE NEWAPAPER November 8, 2003

Fourth-generation professional fisherman Barry McKenzie says bream fishing in the Gippsland Lakes could become a thing of the past "if we don't get off our backsides and do something".

There might be plenty of fish in the sea, but not many, it seems, are in the lakes. Stocks of the popular and tasty table fish bream have plummeted in the Gippsland Lakes to a 30-year low - another symptom of the area's environmental sickness.

Fisheries Victoria is considering tighter rules for summertime lake anglers and commercial fishers to protect dwindling stocks. And bream-lovers may experience price rises at the fish market. But the problem is not over fishing. Bream need a mix of fresh and salt water to breed successfully. But the Gippsland Lakes, where 85 per cent of the state's bream is caught, are becoming more saline.

This is partly because of Melbourne's water use. The Thomson River dam, which supplies up to 60 per cent of the city's water, stops most fresh water flushes from the Thomson getting to the lakes.

Another five rivers flow into the system, but farmer and town water needs have diminished them. The six-year drought has also dramatically cut fresh water flows into the lakes. On top of this, a messy, hair-like algae, fuelled by farmland nutrients washed into the lakes, smothers fish habitat and gets in the way of fishing gear.

Lakes Entrance commercial and recreational fisherman Barry McKenzie has watched the bream decline over his 38 years of fishing on the lakes. He says bream fishing will gradually become a thing of the past if "we don't get off our backsides" and do something about fresh water getting into the lakes.

" I guess we accept all these changes to the Gippsland Lakes as progress, but we are only now starting to see the real effects of lack of fresh water inflows," he said. Mr McKenzie, 63, said the huge snow-melt flushes from the Thomson River were sorely missed in the system. "The mid-1980s was the last time we really got a good, long, consistent flow out of the Thomson into Lake Wellington."

Fisheries Victoria is not sure how all the environmental factors in the Gippsland Lakes are contributing to the bream's demise. "But... all the stakeholders agree that we need to review the situation," said Dr Murray MacDonald, manager of bay and inlet fisheries.

The bream decline is the latest in a series of ecological problems for the Gippsland Lakes, which have suffered several significant fish kills and massive algal blooms, costing regional tourism millions of dollars.

Environment Victoria's healthy rivers campaigner, Natalie Jamieson, said Melburnians should be saving more water so the Gippsland Lakes might one day get their proper fresh water flushes.

"When we are planning for future water use we must include the environment. If not, it is just profit before rivers and lakes," she said.

"Melbourne is contributing to the destruction of the Gippsland Lakes and the sooner we make the connection, the better. What we are doing at one end of the system is having an effect on the other - water comes out of rivers, not taps."

The Victorian State Government has released its new water policy. The policy will endorse the decimation of our water supply catchments and focus on price increases rather than ending logging in Melbourne's water catchments.

Forest Campaigner Megan Clinton for The Wilderness Society said, "Melburnians will be dismayed to hear that catchments themselves, will not be protected under the State Government's new water policy".

" Logging our catchments is one of the major impacts currently reducing Melbourne's water supply. We lose 1,000 litres of water a second to logging".

"Instead of catchment protection, Water Minister John Thwaites has increased water prices by 5%, estimated to save 3% of Melbourne's water consumption. However, if catchments were protected from logging there would be annual water saving of 5%, increasing to 10% over time."

"It appears the bully boy tactics of the logging industry have forced the State Government to target ordinary Melburnians instead of the logging industry."

"As a result of this policy, logging will continue in catchments that supply Melbourne with 60% of its drinking water."

"The proposed policy investigation into the capacity for the plantation resource to take the pressure off logging our water catchments is welcome, but the timeline for its completion is open ended".

Today's policy is a missed opportunity by Premier Bracks to show leadership on two of the state's most important environmental challenges, water and forest protection".

"If Bracks was serious about saving water he would ban logging in catchments - this policy is another failure."

Report links fresh water shortage to logging
By Claire Miller
September 9 2002

Clearfell logging in Melbourne's catchments will cost the city about 60,000 megalitres of fresh water a year over the coming decades, according to a report to be released today.

The report suggests Melbourne can ill afford to sacrifice the water - enough to supply 250,000 households - given looming shortages due to population growth and global warming. It also warns that global warming, expected to reduce rainfall 9 per cent by 2030, has not been taken into account.

While reduced wastage and increased recycling were obvious ways to save water, the report said catchment management issues such as logging were largely out of sight and little understood.

It claimed that Melbourne would lose 60,000 megalitres a year in the long term if logging continued in certain catchments.

The report was prepared by Doctors for Native Forests, and sponsored by the Myer Foundation. It draws together research by government and scientific agencies. It follows a discussion paper released as part of the State Government's review of water needs.

A spokesman for Environment and Conservation Minister, Sherryl Garbutt disputed the report's accuracy. "Doctors for Native Forests in the past have been quite keen to spread misinformation to further their cause, rather than looking at the real issues," he said.

"Melbourne Water has already factored in any loss of water that may arise from logging in catchments.

"The government is focusing on water conservation as being the main way to protect supply into the future."

Help us save water by stopping logging in our water catchments

Facts on logging in our water catchments

The economics of logging in Victorian water catchments