By Sue Bull
GEELONG — As Geelong enters phase two of water restrictions, 83,000 tonnes of native forest in the nearby Otways is being wood-chipped. But the four businesses involved and the Victorian state government deny any connection between the two.
One company, Midway, argues that four scientific experts have demonstrated that low rainfall, not logging, was responsible for the city's water shortage.
Geelong residents, who must hand water their gardens while watching both public and private lawns die, are more sceptical. There's even a public debate about when to begin the local football season, as the ovals can't be watered and are a potential hazard to players.
About half of the area logged in the Otways is in proclaimed water catchments on which 250,000 people depend for their drinking water. Scientific research quoted by environmentalists demonstrates that young regrowth forests resulting from clear-felling yield 20-30% less water than old-growth forests.
The equivalent of 200 football fields is cleared annually in the Otways. Logging, woodchipping and saw-milling generates about $20 million revenue each year. The industry employs only 150 people, roughly equivalent to 1% of the regional workforce.
The Victorian government directly subsidises the industry by about $2.5 million per year, which equates to $17,000 per person employed in the industry or over $600,000 for each of the four companies involved.
This figure does not take into account the value of water lost through logging: at current water prices, this loss is costing the regional community $20 million per year. That's more than a $130,000 for each person employed in the industry or $5 million for each of the four businesses.
At that cost, the state government could fund new plantation industries and protect jobs while also saving the Otways' native forests and the Geelong region's water catchments.