IMPACTS OF PLANTED FORESTS ON WATER RESOURCES: SCIENCE AND LAND USE POLICY IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA

摘要

Australia is faced with increasing demands on water resources. Many surface and groundwater systems are already fully or over exploited. The health of rivers and wetlands is threatened by reduced river flows and increased salinization. As more water is diverted for irrigated farming. Water resources policy makers are increasingly looking for ways to maximise the net benefits from available water while providing sufficient river flows to maintain ecosystem processes. Land managers need new solutions to reverse land degradation largely caused by rising water tables (attributed to deforestation in the past) carrying dissolved salt from deeper parts of the regolith.