Fire and water

Lamington National Park has been in the media recently for all the wrong reasons unfortunately with the fires ravaging rainforest, farming land and homes. What few people don’t understand or possibly haven’t really thought about, is how critical that area is to the livelihood of our Scenic Rim communities and what long – term effects the damage may have.

The MacPherson ranges (that includes Lamington National Park) and the Main ranges, form the headwaters of the waterways in our region, collectively known as the ‘Logan catchment’. You may have heard of the Logan and Albert Rivers. But the other creeks like Christmas, Canungra, Running and the Teviot all play a pivotal role in supporting agriculture in the district.

The high rainfall in the headwaters (Lamington National Park included), combined with the good recharge of groundwater create a near – permanent flow; the very reason why the settlements of the Scenic Rim were built in this area in the first place. The industries now supporting our towns (farming, horticulture, cropping, dairy, poultry, horse studs, turf and more recently, tourism) all rely heavily on the health of our river systems. Not to mention what these waterways provide in terms of drinking water and recreation.

Vegetation determines how water flows through a catchment, and this process is affected by all that happens in the area - including fires.  Native vegetation slows water, retaining it longer in the landscape, recharging groundwater aquifers, and reducing the erosion potential and the loss of soil from the catchment.

I recommend taking a look at this link to an interactive site showing the story of the Logan catchment.

http://qgsp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=de4e407957944429b22aed4463dae7fd#

(Photo of Lamington National Park - Tourism and Events Queensland)