Water Wheel July/Aug 2023: Forestry

Abstract

Forestry and streamflow reduction – making progress in accurate assessment When draft regulations on afforestation genus exchanges were published for comment in October 2015, it set the cat amongst the pigeons. The ‘Genus Exchange Regulations’ proposed that afforestation water users would have to apply to the responsible authority – the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) or relevant catchment management agency – if they planned to exchange the genus of a plantation. And should the new genus be a heavier water user than the one to be replaced, the original authorisation would be amended to reduce the number of hectares planted so that the property’s water use would not increase. Forestry companies are not that different from farmers who want to be able to change the crops they grow according to market demand and prevailing conditions, or simply to spread their risk by diversifying.

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