Bushfires and Drinking Water Quality

摘要

In February this year several rural townships in the state of Victoria were devastated by major bushfires, resulting in 173 fatalities and the destruction of over 2,000 homes. It is estimated that over 300,000 hectares of land in the state have been burnt in 110 separate fires since the beginning of the year. About 2% of the Upper Yarra and numerous smaller catchments serving Melbourne have been affected but not the major Thomson catchment. Melbourne Water relies on 'pristine catchments' and has developed a fire strategy, both pro-active and reactive, which will be the subject of a paper in a later issue of Water.