Apparently the proposed test pump of the Aquifer by Barwon water listed for December will not take place.It has been postponed but the residents of the region have not been told by Barwon Water ,when they intend to do the proposed test pumping.Meanwhile I want to share some photos of another waterway near Kawarren and a spring fed dam on a property also in the Kawarren area.The photos were taken by a local resident. The Otways region is a delicately balanced eco-system that has been exploited since the late 1800's initially in the logging industry. Beech Forest in the early1900's was town of some 5000 people all involved in one way or another in the logging industry. Indeed a railway line used to run from Colac to Beech Forest to support that industry. The railway line was shut down in the 1960's. Much of this railway line has been refurbished to create a walking/hiking track known as the Old Beechy Rail Trail.
The reason that there was so much forest in this region is that we have a higher rainfall than many other regions- so this created wonderful stands of beech trees ( hard to find these days) and grand mountain ash, all fed by local creeks, waterways and springs. Because of man's activities the situation is precarious, but we all have to co-exist in this region. However pumping the Aquifer to provide water for huge water greedy urban areas can do nothing but create lasting damage of a catastophic kind in an area where residents are working hard to protect what is still here. It has created a haven for unique wildlife, flora and its own microclimate. When Melbourne is sweltering on hot summers nights from the heat radiation from asphalt and concrete our nights bring cool: you will often find condensation in the morning.
There has been drought in other surrounding regions which has seen the habitat of some of the birds change drastically in just a few years- for example bower birds seem to have become grazers, as their forest habitat is depleted. We seem to have a deluge of crows which seems to have impacted on local kookaburra population ( certainly where I live) - who are upsetting the delicate balance of the food chain .For example kookaburras are important in the chain that involves tiger snakes.In the past I have counted no less than 35 species of birds in my garden ( and I am not a bird watcher by any stretch of the imagination) however when the balance alters and one species such as the crow becomes over dominant then the whole balance goes askew.I have seen crows pull apart the nest of some of the small birds that nest in the garden. The crow is but a minor example of how delicately poised everything is. Give my the laughter of the kookaburra instead of the raucous cawing off scavenger crow.
