- The State Government eventually followed through with an election
commitment to conduct further hydrology research. In June 2000, the
Minister appointed the Otway Forest Hydrology Reference Group (OFHRG). OFHRG
was made up of community stakeholder groups that included:
- local Government (five Shires)
- conservation groups (three)
- water authorities (three)
- native hardwood industry representatives (five)
- plantations industry; and
- DNRE
- The overall aim of the hydrology study was to investigate the impact
logging has on water yield and quality. The Terms
of Reference for the hydrology research required a two stage approach
to research. Stage One was a desktop study to look at existing data
with an aim to establish trends and find information gaps. Stage Two
was a longer term research project designed to fill in information gaps
determined by Stage One. Stage Two was never started.
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