The Effects of Fire on Water Catchments
 The intensity and frequency of fires in water catchments profoundly influences the hydrology of the land and water productivity within those catchments.

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 The effects of fire on water catchments and their productivity is influenced by a number of factors.

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The greater the frequency of fire events, the more the structure of forests are changed and simplified to fire tolerant species which in turn create more volatile and fire prone landscapes.

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 The greater the frequency of fire events the greater the level of nutrient loss and destruction of supporting bacteria and micro-organisms etc.

The type and age of forest i.e., Wet Sclerophyll, Dry Sclerophyll, and the dryness or wetness of those forests can influence the intensity and corresponding degree of survival of the structure of those forest and their ability to influence  the micro-climate and hydrology of the land.

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Undisturbed old forests with deep litter on the forest floor generate the highest productivity and best quality water.

Catastrophic fire in Wet Sclerophyll or old growth Ash forests is extremely rare with an occurrence of well over 500 if not 1000 years.

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 Mono-cultures of eucalypt re-growth and plantations of all species are extremely susceptible to fire.

Since extensive clearfelling and land clearing has taken place with corresponding widespread change to the nature and structure of forests, the fire susceptibility of the remaining old forests has also been increased due to the “edge effect” or drying out as they become islands in the altered landscapes of drier mono-cultures.

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 The problem of regeneration burns or wildfire can further compound the decline in water quality due to an increase in hydrophobicity, which follows high intensity fires. Hydrophobicity can impede water infiltration and/or water percolation rates from catchments, eucalypt forests appear particularly prone to this phenomenon.