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Research into water impacts on plantations leads to world-first policy changeResearch on plantation water use in South Australia's Green Triangle region has convinced the SA Government of the need for a policy change to recognise the impact on water resources of pine and blue gum plantations. For the first time anywhere in the world, forestry plantations are to be licensed for direct groundwater extraction. Eight years of research on plantation water use by Water for a Healthy Country Flagship's Dr Richard Benyon and his team, has increased Australia's knowledge of the impact on ground water resources of pine and blue gum plantations. The research underpins a policy announced by SA Environment and Conservation Minister Gail Gago, that from July 2007, all new plantations in areas of southeast SA with less than 6 metres depth to groundwater will require a licensed water allocation. The research answered questions over whether deep-rooted trees affect water availability by using groundwater. This became an issue when the area of plantations in southeast South Australia increased by 25 per cent between 1999 and 2001. The cumulative effect of thousands of hectares of plantations planned for the region on groundwater was unknown. Groundwater is the source of all domestic water supplies for Mount Gambier and surrounding regions and is vital to industries and irrigated agriculture in the area. The region's economy and prosperity is also highly dependent on the plantation forest industry. CSIRO reviewed existing knowledge on plantation forest water requirements in relation to groundwater resources in the southeast of South Australia and southwest Victoria and found there remained uncertainty about how much groundwater the new plantations would take up. In a substantial collaborative project, Dr Benyon's team worked with the SA Department for Water Resources, the South East Catchment Water Management Board, the forest industry and other stakeholders, to measure the water use of plantations under a wide range of conditions. The findings have not only led to a world-first of plantations being licensed specifically for groundwater use, but will also help the forest industry target locations for new plantations on sites where the impact on water resources will be least. Contact: Richard Benyon, ENSIS |
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| Water for a Healthy Country Flagship CSIRO Editor: Leane Regan CSIRO Black Mountain Laboratories, Canberra, ACT, 2601 Phone: +61 2 6246 4565 Fax: +61 2 6246 5560 editor.healthycountry@csiro.au www.csiro.au/healthycountry/ |
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