Australia's Water Policy Launched

24 July 2007
The Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council, in conjunction with the Forest Industry Water Policy Group, has launched the first Australian plantation industry national water policy.
The policy details the industry's views on the National Water Initiative (NWI) and how the NWI clauses dealing with water interception should be dealt within the development of regional water plans.
A3P CEO Neil Fisher said the plantation industry needed a national approach to water use policy that was underpinned by science and treated water interception by all land use change activities consistently and equitably.
“Plantations provide many environmental, social and economic benefits with little impact on water availability,” Fisher said. “When properly planned and managed, plantations can contribute to more sustainable land use in rural areas.”
Key points in the policy include:
• Plantation forestry is a dryland (non-irrigated) agricultural land use and any policy contemplated in relation to interception of water by plantations should be considered only as part of a full debate on water interception by all dryland agricultural land uses.
• All policy on water interception must be underpinned by sound, repeatable and reliable science; all policy on water interception should take into account issues of water quality as well as water quantity.
• Clauses 55-57 of the National Water Initiative should only be implemented as written, that is, constrained to consideration of land use change (for example new plantations) not existing land uses’ and any inclusion of land use change to plantation forestry in a water entitlement system must take into account of the differences between the physical extraction of water from the water supply system by humans and the natural interception of water by plants.
Fisher, who represents the forest and paper industries in the National Water Commission’s National Stakeholder Reference Group, said A3P was committed to working with governments and industry to ensure the effective management and use of Australia’s important water resources.
Members of the Forest Industry Water Policy Group include A3P, Australian Forest Growers, National Association of Forest Industries and Timber Communities Australia.

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