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More water, sequestration if Goulburn logging stopped
Ending logging in the wet montane forests of Victoria’s Goulburn River catchment – already damaged by the Black Saturday fires and part of a controversial pipeline scheme to divert water to Melbourne – would deliver an additional 3800 gigalitres to the river this century, around six times Melbourne’s annual water use.
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Logging coupes visible in the upper Goulburn catchment. Credit: Chris Taylor/ACF
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This was one of the findings from a report commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), which estimated the ‘saved’ water to have an economic value of around $1.68 billion.
The report, ‘Woodchipping our water: a case for reassessing the use of the Goulburn Broken catchment’s wet montane forests’, argues that the logging of mature forests in the headwaters of the catchment is threatening the Goulburn’s significant water production and carbon sequestration potential. It also argues that ecologically mature forests are more resilient to bushfire than disturbed regrowth forests.
The Goulburn River supplies water to Shepparton, Bendigo and Ballarat, and to major irrigation industries such as horticulture before it eventually provides flows to the Murray.
The ACF has called for the Victorian Government to end logging in the catchment and implement a $12 million restructure package to provide new economic opportunities for the region.
