Logging and the Thomson Water Catchment

The Thomson Reservoir is situated along the eastern escarpments of Mount Baw Baw and carries approximately 60 percent of Melbourne’s water storage capacity. It is surrounded by 48,700 hectares of forested catchment that includes the northern and eastern slopes of Mount Baw Baw, the southern slopes of Mount Matlock on the Great Dividing Range and …

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Snowy sell-off scuttled

If you ever thought you can’t make a difference to an arrogant government, the halted sale of Snowy Hydro should make you think again. The Greens legal advice showing that the sale was illegal really upset the PM’s applecart. This was the main motivator that saw a turn-around, although the press gallery were not wanting …

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BASSLINK … Engineers’ wet dream turns to a nightmare

A giant underwater electrical umbilical chord now joins Tasmania and Victoria. As of late April, we can now buy Tasmania’s ‘clean Hydro power’, or if their wood fired electricity generators get going, power from their incinerated old growth forests. They can also buy our cheap, off-peak, dirty coal power and save their own to sell …

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East Gippsland’s forest blockades 05-06

One of the main reasons for blockading logging is to generate media and alert the public to what is happening in their own forests. The ’05-06 summer was a great success with plenty of blockades and good media coverage. We hear the protests have even been noticed in Spring Street. All up 12 protests were …

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Plantations cause drought

A global study has shown the obvious – that timber plantations have a mixed effect on the environment. While they can help to counteract greenhouse gas emissions, stabilize soil and moderate strong winds, they can also stop streams flowing. Dairy and sheep farmers in the Green Triangle area of Victoria and South Australia say they …

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Thirsty plantations drinking us dry

A global study has shown the obvious – that timber plantations have a mixed effect on the environment. While they can help to counteract greenhouse gas emissions, stabilize soil, and moderate strong winds, they can also stop streams flowing. Dairy and sheep farmers in the Green Triangle area of Victoria and South Australia say they …

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Conserving water – a drop in the ocean

Just improving water conservation would not provide enough water to meet a projected shortfall of 854 gigalitres – the annual consumption of Sydney and Perth – within 25 years. The Water Services Association of Australia predicted this in a new report, saying the amount was needed to maintain people’s increasingly affluent lifestyles. It didn’t believe …

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Another oil field off the Marlo coast

Anzon, a new oil company on the scene, has had record-fast approval for the development of an oil field near Marlo. The Basker, Manter and Gummy fields were discovered between 1983-90 but are only being tapped into now. With the price of oil around $70 at last count, new wells should be extremely lucrative. Instead …

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Gippsland Water factory

To help with expansion plans of the Paperlinx (Australian Paper) mill in the Latrobe Valley, the Bracks government has committed $50 million towards a $150 million water recycling plant. The Morwell plant will recycle domestic and industrial water using basic treatment to take the smell out of the water before it is released. The stink …

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Catchment Management Authorities managing political buffer zones

The Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) were set up on July 1st 1997 to oversee the management of Victoria’s river catchments. It’s been described as regionalising environment problems to let country people deal with them. It has since broadened its scope from the narrow ‘bed and banks’ focus to incorporate whole of catchment – from the …

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