‘Why are you penalising us?’: South West farmers slam forest mismanagement for draining water table

Outraged fruit and vegetable growers believe they have been unfairly targeted in the State Government’s bid to protect environmental water flows in the State’s south. Farmers in the Manjimup-Pemberton region have slammed the Government for “mismanagement” of the State Forest, which they claim is the biggest user of environmental water in the 6100sqkm Warren-Donnelly catchment, using 60 per cent. Manjimup farmer and Warren-Donnelly Advisory Committee member Diane Fry said areas of forest replanted at 3000 stems per hectare before the forestry industry shutting down had caused the water table to plummet. She said farmers had been painted as heavy water users, but just 5 per cent of the region was irrigated. “The biggest water user is the State Forest,” Ms Fry said. “That is not our gig, we’re managing our land and we’re producing food. “We’re being transparent and accountable under the licensing regime, we have meters, we’re the most efficient water users in the world, so what else can we do? “Why are you penalising us and trying to make it so regulatory, that none of us want to stay in business?” She says environmental flows could be increased by better forest management. WA Liberal leader David Honey said the Government’s water licensing and allocations were all based on environmental water, but they needed to “look at the big picture”. “There’s a maximum of 15 per cent farming activity in the region and 85 per cent is forest,” he said. Mr Honey said hundreds of hectares of forest initially planted for logging had been “neglected,” leaving huge areas of unnatural, highly dense, monoculture forest to pose both a water and fire risk for the local communities. “You can stand there and reach your hand out from one tree stem to another,” he said. “Where they’ve planted 3000 stems of trees it’s massively reduced the water table — we’ve had local water tables go down nine metres or more which impacts on stream flows. “It appears for whatever the reason thinning is not being done.” He believed if the region endured a couple of dry years, it was likely those dense stands of trees would die, which is why increased management was necessary. “People love trees and have a strong emotional attachment to them, but the reality is the forest has always needed management — logging or no logging,” Mr Honey said. Pemberton potato grower John Omodei said water licences restricted growers’ water use so as to not impact on downstream water users’ ability to capture water, but no licence was needed to plant blue gums, which he said used far more water than their crops. Mr Omodei said an argument needed to be made for dam integrity as well, with a component of “drought-proofing” incorporated into each dam to ensure they had more in the dam than they needed in case of a dry year. He said figuratively speaking, that was “environmental water” which hosted birdlife and plants, and maintained the integrity of the dam to produce food for an increasing population in future years. Ms Fry said farmers actually demonstrated the qualities of the “best environmentalists,” caring for their land to ensure it was productive, profitable and feeds the population, and farmers needed to be recognised for that. “Our family have been here for 100 years, we’ve looked after this land, we’ve cared for it, and we’ve produced food, and we’ve based our business around it . . . so I think I rate fairly highly on the environmental stakes,” she said. “To me, the legacy I leave to my children, is the best legacy in the world and I’m very proud of that.” A State Government spokesman said Karri forests had been regenerated and managed, including thinning, under prescriptions provided by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and the Forest Management Plan since 2014. “The claim that areas of replanted forest have caused the water table to plummet 6-9m is simply not correct,” he said. “The most significant factor limiting the availability of water in the catchment is reduced rainfall due to climate change.”