Clearfell Logging in the Otway Forested Catchments - Water Yield and Water Quality Issues Otway Ranges Environment Network
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Impact of logging on water yield

Less water is produced from a forest which is clearfell logged over an 80 year rotation.

  • In April 1998 the Co-operative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology (CRCCH) published the results of a five year analysis of water yields in Mountain Ash forest catchments*. The study concluded that old growth Mountain Ash forests have almost twice the water yield of young regrowth forests resulting from clearfelling or wildfire regeneration.
  • CRCCH concluded:
    • old forests have a lower overall transpiration rate
    • old forests intercept less rain
    • old forests have lower soil evaporation rates
  • At a water forum conducted in Geelong on December 1, 1999, CRCCH scientists stated that the most recent research suggested similar water yield losses in mixed-species forests.

‘Predicting Water Yields From Mountain Ash Forest Catchments’ Industry Report of the Co-operative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology, April 1998.

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