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Taking Care Of Riparian Zones Can Improve Your Productivity And Water Quality

By Department of Primary Industries - 21st December 2004 - Back to News

We have often heard that ‘grass’ is our cheapest resource resulting in the relative cost efficiency of Australian dairy and beef products compared with the rest of the world. To some, the idea of removing land around rivers and streams from production to ‘improve management’ could at first glance be viewed as counter-productive.

Common tactics for improving land management around waterways (riparian zones) include restricting stock access, fencing these areas off and revegetating with local indigenous species.

However, farmers have raised a number of issues about implementing these changes on their farms. Apart from the costs of fencing these areas, farmers are concerned about the amount of pastureland ‘lost’ from production when riparian zones are fenced or alternatively managed.

Other concerns include losing access to the ‘green pick’ in summer; the time and cost associated with managing the fenced area (herbicide use, fence maintenance, feral animal management); and the costs of installing off-stream watering points, to name a few.

However, on the plus side, there are many benefits to be gained from taking delicate riparian areas out of production, eg:

• the time gained in not having to look for cattle or remove cattle from creeks,
• not having to replace cattle drowned in creeks and rivers,
• the costs and time associated with managing wet riparian pastures,
• better efficacy of herbicides from using clean water,
• improved water quality for stock and domestic purposes and the potential improvement in stock liveweight gain as a result, and
• improved animal health from access to clean water.

The above points are quick examples only and are by no means a complete description of all the costs or benefits to farmers, nor do they show the many benefits for the environment.

Biodiversity surveys of fenced and unfenced (grazed) riparian areas suggest that fenced areas do not harbour feral small mammals - this is important preliminary information for the improved management of riparian zones. In fact, an added environmental benefit is the apparent increase in native biodiversity.

Farm management activities, such as stock movement, can lead to nutrient accumulation on different parts of the farm. Where these areas are located close to waterways, the potential is there to degrade water quality. Tracks are also a potential source of sediment inputs into waterways. For these and other on-farm impacts, practical solutions have already been identified that can potentially reduce their impact both on and off-farm.

It’s worth noting that riparian areas act as natural filters for nutrients and sediment that might otherwise degrade water quality. They also provide important areas of vegetation and habitat for native species, maintain stream water temperature, and provide woody debris and leaf-litter, which provide a nutrient source for fish and other aquatic species.

Knowing what, when and how to manage weeds in fenced areas will assist farmers in reducing the time and costs associated with weed management in riparian zones. A weed decision support tool is being developed by PIRVic Ellinbank’s Productive Grazing, Healthy Rivers team to provide Gippsland grazing industry farmers with the information they require to determine the most appropriate weed management strategy for their production system and conditions.

For riparian zone management to be effective and lead to on and off-farm benefits, management of these areas needs to be integrated into day-to-day farm management activities.

Production and riparian zone management are not exclusive from each other. So it’s worth remembering that on-farm management changes that are made for environmental reasons may also have a spin-off benefit for your farm!

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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