SWVictoria Earthnews

Wind power - Western district

2011-06-09T10:35:00.003+10:00

Some one asked me about the place of wind power recently.

We western Victorians have been using wind power ever since western settlement ( son counted 80 windmills between here and Geelong along the main road - 1hour drive; This is one of them . ) Our town is the famous source of our own brand called" Bryan Mills " which have a hefty gearbox to "torque up" the huge lifts necessary in our steep country . Windmills are the most common means , even today, for supplying water to our dairy herds of about 200 cows.

As for the wind generated electricity - similiar story to solar - the idea is oversold and the big wind things are dumped in places where it suits business and crass political stupidity , but not always landscape . They don't work reliably early in the morning ( when they are needed ). Governments in Victoria are illadvised having cloned their own for too long and alienated the competent by their own stupidity. Applies sadly to both sides of politics.

Small windpower units in remote areas of the Otways have often been abandoned because power source is unreliable and batteries cost too much ( seems same is true of many electric cars to date).

Appropriate technology is the way to view technology(ie positively), but you need wisdom and science , not political slogans and political ignorance and stupidity in conservation to do that. Otherwise our grandchildren will have to pay dearly for all our grand gestures .Grand gestures that so often turn out to be grandstanding.

2011-03-24T11:07:00.001+11:00

Algae -Threat or opportunity ?

2011-03-24T11:04:00.004+11:00

Officers paid to talk about big problems have been stopping us from using lakes (and many other areas) for recreation for years
When you next hear someone worried about an environment issue ask them-- is a threat or an opportunity? .
For too long now we hear people being paid to worry us about the threats , when many of us as applied environmental scientists focused on solutions ( http://designwithnature.blogspot.com).
Many of the algal blooms in recreational lakes can and should be managed, not left, like the greens suggest, in a 'no touch zone" .
Algae will form part of our energy future when Departments employ scientists and not narrow focused problem driven project managers.

Making good long term decisions is hard work

2010-11-12T06:38:00.000+11:00

You and I might know that but our Councils , it often appears avoid hard decisions . After decades of advising 3 of Victoria's Coastal shires directly and more privately on environmental planning it gives me no joy to see them now snowed under more than ever by paperwork and consultants and a process the avoids decsionmaking . Please gentlemen I am happy to help . Save yourself the embaraassment of having to defend those who avoid making decisions and ask for help

Sequestration into soils in the South

2010-05-20T09:10:00.001+10:00

Our native ecosytems don't have the dramatic leaf fall that deciduous trees have , so leaves from those trees at this cooler time of year demonstrate well just how quickly and effectively carbon is produced and distributed into soil in cool climates in the autumn.
Not that we can easily desribe the form of that carbon and can neccesarily stop it from going back inbto the atmosphere- esp later in the year . But we can encourage it to be stored by composting it , eating mushrooms and even raking up leaves . You want to know more ? Ask a question

You see, if you leave it to the trees ( decidous that is ) the leaves will kill the grass and anything else that tries to grow underneath them .

Should we leave Native Forests alone ?

2010-03-19T08:58:00.004+11:00

Haven't we done enough damage ?
These very sound concerns and cautions come up every time someone wants to harvest timber out of a native forest . I accept that many people need a lot of convincing that we can do that safely .eg doubts about my support for several proposals currently.

Before I worked across the environmental risk area across many countries , I thought like most , that leaving timber was the best way to look after water ( like Melbourne Water did in their catchmnets ) ; but I can see that, provided we understand the natural limits well , we can harvest timber and improve soil and water quality and ecosytem diversity ( my main areas of expertise ) quite specifically .
So our Australian forest soils are the better for harvesting( cf rotting or burning) .Its simply not true to say that bushfires and even burning improve the ecosystem - sometimes even in our area ( say around Carlisle river or here at Aireys Inlet ) fires threaten and remove the diversity . Many older persons will remember the diversity that was Aireys Inlet State Park - no longeras diverse as it was in 1970's because a big burn in 1983 changed it to the more uniform plant ecosystem it is now . Take a drive up to Lavers hill from Devondale or from Bambra to Aireys Inlet ( rough road) and note the highly acid soils and water and the limited recycling and limited ecosystem diversity in the vegetation and life forms.( often in a very high rainfall area)
More general discussion on logging here.
More about Otway Tours HERE ( come complete with CD's to listen to while you drive) Ask at OCR FM radio station Bowl arcade or the Tourist information Centre - Colac

Rainfall and runoff into Lake Colac

2009-09-25T15:10:00.005+10:00

It was very dry last summerSo will it fill this year ? (Photo - we walked across (south to north) in January this year)
Most Probably not. Infact Lake Colac is likely to dry out again by the end of summer ( assumming average months ahead)
The Flows REQUIRED to help it fill will take some time- most likely series of wetter years.
The real key to understanding Runoff is the condition of the soils in the catchment .
The main source of such flows will be when the heavier soils in the catchment are nearly fully saturated. ( as they are right now ) The problem is that between showers at this time of year ,soils dry out , and so does the often thick wad of pasture now growing well. So unless the rainfall occurs repeatedly within a few days of each other ,at this time of year , high retention .
Lake Colac is unlikley to fill this year because the retention rate can be excpected to be high and the spring components, which over wet years contribute significant flows, are too dry to contribute as yet .

I feel for those poor cows at this time of year

2009-09-08T15:03:00.004+10:00

Not only do they have to suffer the mud, the cold winds and unexpected coldshowersof a normal august year, The wannabe carbon clevers can't decide whether WE are doing the right thing by doing what comes naturally .
Senator Wong and her entourage of wannabes can't decide whether our beloved animals should fart, belch or breath, but they can decide that we should have IS another huge tax, so someone can pay someone to fix the problem . Sure !!!!
( Don't put up with this bull - Bookmark otwaysonline and keep in touch with the real world)

Before someone starts worrying too much

2009-05-29T09:04:00.006+10:00

There is no sign of a change in the rainfall.
Mind you if you want to be more of an expert in statistics than i am -go ahead . Its a free country and we can all learn.I have stated the facts. Unfortunately stats are abused daily in the media - to say whatever the author wants-- so caution is a good idea . Why not do your own comparisons starting here!

One map shows the rain this year . The other shows where its below average .

Mind you May is not a good time to worry about averages because the patchy high daily totals of the dry period ( dec to june -incl now) that is , the ones that drop rain on one and not another , are still a dominant feature of the present period . Unlike Jon Faine 774 yesterday , you need to wait till late spring before you worry . Rainfall to date is very unreliable compared to that which can be expecetd in August September and October HERE.

Supercharged soil arrives down south on Sunday

2008-10-29T07:40:00.004+11:00

No one likes to see the soil blow, especially when its grain producers in the middle of a very long drought. However their loss ( if it is theirs?), is a good gain for us . The heavy dusting on sunday night last was about 20kg /ha of good fertilizer for us; Not of course enough to greatly modify the pH here ( farmers would use more like 100 times that)
The dust contains significant amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulphates and carbonates, giving the material a pH of 8 – just what our southern acid soils need. The cycling of these various fertilizer compounds back to the topsoils of southern Victoria is a positive net gain thing, as the elements are easily leached out of our higher-rainfall soils.

The wide-spread and even distribution of eroded surface materials appears to only occur occasionally when the turbulent edge of frontal systems manages to transfer these flat, highly charged fine pieces high into the upper atmosphere.
Just where the dust came from may be revealed when Met bureau do a false colour analysis of the satellite imagery.(Here's hoping they do)
The source is most likely to be the mallee grain growing areas as the soil pH, colour and clay content indicate parilla type clays. These clays have been moving about for eons and this last trip south is, overall, a bigger plus for us and the southern ocean ( where the iron stimulates plankton production) than it is a loss for up north .
There are large areas of some similiar soil types in the dry centre and if there is another mechanism by which these highly charged particles get up there ( the sucking effect) and spread there (the superspreading effect everybody , it seems got about the same amount- amazing )it would be nice to know - esp for farmers currently implicated . Understanding dusts clear earth cooling effects ( climate changes)is another reason to better understand what actually happens here.

After all, these naturally highly charged particles haven't got the same attention as water and lightning has, (Apparently geologists have observed large discharges created by ash in active volcanoes-- so there you go !)
Saharan studies , for example, too , have shown that the transfer of particles to very high altitudes can occur with quite heavy silicate loads.( the physics of which it would be good to hear about! see posting on yahoo here)
We wait and see - great to have all those satellites, and all that data eh!
Maybe we can and will look after the earth better? - now that we have a more objective long term view - we don't have any excuse eh!

The suck it and see approach

2008-10-20T13:45:00.016+11:00

Kathy
(Stateline ABC) stands on ground that hasn't grown anything for ten years.

The oxidation and soil desequestration is well advanced so even bacteria, seeds and spores get their coats ripped off before they get started.

Why does it take a visit of the ABC to get our planning authorities to properly discuss real threats on the ground ? Do they have to damage the environment before they know anything about damaging the environment? Are there no professional earth planners who can speak up in time to prevent damage to sensitive ecosystems?
Ten years , many animals and 2 major wildfires - its been along time for some sensitivity to kick in .
Barwon Water claims it is not responsible, claiming they relied on expensive advice from the SRW and the CCMA ?

The great challenge for those who claim to govern us is to genuinely and effectively look after the wider interests of the local community and environment .
How long before the CCMA's valuable economic impetus into Colac is transferred to Geelong where " it will be more accountable???"

What in the world is the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority doing? - they spend big on maps to show us where the problems are without showing us where the problems are!

Politicians and USDA federal fabians take note.
Poorly prescribed research ( stuff that is NOT PROPERLY LOCALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY ACCOUNTABLE ) in Regional areas will be very detrimental for regional areas responsibility long term - look at the centralisation already happening to DPI and the greater risk of that - the country too is in uproar over conservation rhetoric that solves nothing but often shifts one problem to another area( cf REALITY and cuttingedge conservation)

Secondrate development - par for the current course

2008-10-20T13:38:00.005+11:00

"Secondrate development all around us " Its quite a claim to make , I know, but one I didn't do lightly - in my letters to the papers. Quality, after all, is the basic test of good planning. This doesn't mean that some development isn't first class, but that the system is, after decades of working better, stumbling around, printing paper and losing the plot . We're paying heavily to get the job half done, because no fear , no favor footprint assessmentrs are being done.

And I'm not going to identify all the secondrate projects I know of in the district. That would be too easy for the powerbrokers to pass charges over and thereby paste over the deeper cracks that cause the evidence around us . The point is - people in power too have lost the plot on professional planning and the last thing the public need is some powerful institutions to paste over the cracks--- and put out more of the unprofessional pedantry and pennypinching nonsense ( nice sounding words that appear to be so important ) they are so often good at .

This blog like so many, is about people power and professional power. Blogging is for those who seem to lose it to those in power who generate evil in the name of the best intention . The point of good politics and professional work is not to point out problems ( lots of us can do that) but to ....prevent them . maybe even fix them long term .

How many wonderful professional people in the public service have lost their jobs in the last decades in the land of "she'll be right" by trying to do what's right - they did their jobs very well nurses, teachers just to name a few --just trying to do their jobs . Pushed out of ,or pushed over in the rush to paint over the past or play ' we will try something new and better " games .
Dedicated today to just one more casualty we know of today - To Madam : well done for sticking at the coalface for so long and with such little credit for a job well done !

SOME LOCAL EXAMPLES

How would you like to find your half finished house project cancelled forever because you weren't told you were building on a landslide ( click here) , How would you like it if your Shire told you it was reducing its commitment to "the arts precinct" so its offices could grow .( click here)
How would you like to have be told ( developing one of the SW biggest economic projects in the SW in recent decades) that , having finished your 500 page environmental risk assesment report , you are going to have to write a whole new report because you ar going to have to shift major parts due to active landslides under it. Sound planning - we don't think !More elsewhere

Panic merchants push off

2008-09-08T16:36:00.002+10:00

Don't worry mate. The government are the ones with all the worries; noone it seems, is able to calm them down to being reasonable - scientific and with some common sense.
See the BOM estimate: We have generally speaking, had a average year for rainfall.

Are we really running out of water ?

2008-06-19T23:30:00.010+10:00

Of course not . We live on a very dry continent and Western Victoria is part of it . Dark Green indicates the few area where we get more than 60mm a month .
SW vic has for eons been quite dry ( look at say how runoff over eons creates streams and lakes, here for example).
We are probably having a quite normal series of dry years, just as every decade or so, we have a series of wet years . The landscape (the geological, soil and plant record )that we have before us , is more reliable in what it tells us about climate variability than "recent meterological modelling " .Who pays these blokes to worry anyawy .
But to put such important facts forward in the name of scientific and reasonable discussion would of course bring me into conflict with the media and lobby politics and their well fueled campaigns to get us buying into them . Pity about science - its often just being used as a name up the front .

For example , its clear that many of the lakes around here have dried up in recent history, let alone in the ice ages before white men arrived here . The water budget of lake colac shows that a series of dry years are infact needed for that to happen, as is the very bank on the eastern side .
One really important fact about runoff is that , except for a few quite small areas of Victoria, it always is a relatively rare, sensitive and relatively unpredictable event each year . So while the media have field day speculating about the actual rain issue they have if pressed, even more room to move speculating about runoff . If only we could rely rely on the media to consult peopleon the ground . More later .

Pasture Plants that last

2007-11-05T14:51:00.000+11:00

October and November rains are what makes our pastures some of the most sustainable in the State. Pity the State government doesn't recognise the urgency of protecting them ---and other sustainable grazing areas .(Does the Government really want to know?)
Here's a great survivor-- Cocksfoot . Look at those fine root mass .The alternative summer survivors have to behave a bit more like the radish family with tap roots .The great survivor ( marshmallow) (pictured )doesn't get grazed much but its roots take advantage of shallow and deep moisture . Did you know the root of this plant has some great uses?

2007-11-02T15:31:00.000+11:00

Commonly Known as Capeweed ( imported from South Africa ) this broad leafed annual has a great year - its filling up pastures all across the SW of Victoria due to the bare ground sydrome of a dry set of years. These big seeders dominate groundcover once by filling up lightspace with a watery skeleton of leaves that go to nothing when dry. a shortage of seed and a poor start to the season leave the ground open to such invaders . Well kept perennial pastures make sense but a 1 in 100 yr dry spell requires special adjustment ? No good for hay--- so today with 15-20 mm of rain, many farmers are out their sowing something better !

The secret life of footballers

2007-10-02T09:22:00.000+10:00

Sportsmen across the country wonder what our secret is . Something in the water or what ? maybe its the mud . The map ( of Heytesbury only) shows areas likely to get very messy in the wet , and it does really only show the VERY worst . We breed em tough. The risk of landslides is less now ( time of year and season ) but the same area is one in which they are most likely to occur .

Engineers aren't the enemy

2007-08-16T07:40:00.000+10:00

Get closer to the full story on why poor environental planning still happens. It's not all "the engineers fault"!

Developing the Barham River Floodplain

2007-07-26T08:17:00.000+10:00

The locals think its a disaster , but Mr Forsyth supports Mr De Cicco's plan to bring the Sunshine coast style of development to Victoria- the style where we can't afford to have green wedges or great entries to great valley views . Where we are so desperate for land that we need to build on estuaries and take risks with estuary and sand dune function. According to the director of the CCMA there are no environmental problems associated with reengineering one of highest energy stream outlets and beautiful estauries in the State. We trust he has done his homework and noone else will have to come in a fix the mess when it rains.

Gippsland floods -Could they happen here?

2007-07-04T08:44:00.000+10:00

The floods in Gippsland were not as unpredictable as the media and our pollies would make out . Its easier to blame someone else eh:Talk about 1 in 100 or 1in 1000.
The Barham river in Apollo Bay is about to be built on by those who rely, not on facts and risk advice from independant experts , but thick reports produced by developers. Thredbo landowners, whose buildings collapsed had the same assurances through govt agencies that "the risk was low" . The risk is not low , but the govt don't know . I wonder why ? See the evidence of grand neglect of planning by Bracks on http://designwithnature.blogspot.com .blogspot.com

Post drought hazards for graziers

2007-06-08T09:57:00.000+10:00

Staggers and other nutritional disorders are common livestock risks with trying to make most of desperately needed emerging feed .
Seed in the ground is probably in short supply. If capeweed is coming up all around , plan to resow.

Why didn't we get runoff ?

2007-01-23T23:44:00.000+11:00

The recent high rainfalls of between 50 and 75mm locally didn't produce much runoff-why ? Mainly because the falls were generally of quite low intensity- even statisically for this time of year . Dry soils too of course , but in summer some soils will run . High runoff periods for most slopes are rare ( occuring only about 3 times in an average year on wet loam to clays soils in areas between 700- 1000mm total per year. .
However ,you can get a lot higher runoff and erosion with summer rain because the intensities are usually higher when soils are drier , but effect is over small areas. The worst kind around here for big areas are associated with easterlies - Either way , care should be taken at this time of year both to avoid cultivating steep slopes intensively or to align tracks with more care/ crossings than often seems necesary . for some ideas click here

The taproot -not better , but very handy !

2007-01-20T17:00:00.000+11:00

So what a plant survive the drought. Deep roots,a tap root ,top feeders , or all three . The answer looking at bare ground oocupied by plantain is all three clearly .
( jan20th 2007) Its been very dry . . Most Trees control the water balance of an area the radius length of their height .they mostly rely on surface roots. Plants like the plantain control much more than their height and keep growing inspite of dry surface soils because of the enormously tough and deep tap root (shown - goes down 800mm here ) linked with leaf area control when surface moisture is high - never one nor the other with switching taps and survival .Plants are better designed than we think! Let's face it, they cope better than we think they should with what appears to be impossible odds ! why don't their leaves just shrivel up in the sun like everything else does?

How do plants cope with these very dry and hot conditions ?

2007-01-20T16:33:00.000+11:00

The last 6mths, surface soil water balances are impossible for shallow plant roots to get moisture Except those like the ones shown here that extarct just a little from the clays below ( in otways region clay subsoils predominate so there is enough moisture there to keep plants ticking away ). These skeleton weed and plantain plants in the park at Colac have obvoiusly the best of all worlds
( like anything that still has leaves on at this time of year .)
--leaf stomata that close water traffic on wilting.
--leaf and stem structure that avoids the leaves cooking under the sun
--ability to direct condensation into/onto plant in mornings
--very deep tap root ( both plants shown ) they even beat kikuyu which is the plant to kill right now if you haven't done it earlier .Gotta be some good come outta the drought . More ideas here

Yes very dry for 2yrs

2006-11-13T12:39:00.000+11:00

How dry is normal and how dry can it get?

2006-10-27T17:32:00.000+10:00

The Dark blue lines show the higher rainfall areas with light blue to yellow showing average rainfalls down to 700mm .
See the chart on "otwaysonline" which shows we look like getting ONLY HALF of our average July to September rain. At least a 50yr drought for the whole of Victoria? is it any worse than that?
The growing season in the Otways Hinterland ( not Heytesbury where no extra watering in normal in November )is naturally precarious in November (Map2) because evaporation exceeds average rainfall by nearly 90mm for the month - this IS normal. If you are going to keep active growing plants growing in Colac in November you need to plan to put nearly 100 litres on every sq metre for the month (that's an average month, not a dry one ) Surprisingly, perhaps , its not a lot of water, but its a lot of rain ---that we are unlikely to get, let alone to soak in at this time of year.
If you are using a hose, you can expect to spend 1hr per for every 10 square metres of garden you water (that's for an average November and March in Colac with another 30% more in january and 50% more in a very dry month -planning purposes only). Interestingly, if you ( just 1 person) divert sullage ( shower, kitchen and laundry) to the garden, you can expect to put out enough water to keep 20 square meters of garden per person going in an average November .Who knows how much more if your family is large ? Questions 52335544?

Identifying fungi

2006-08-28T15:00:00.000+10:00

FUNGI might be very common and simple in structure, but their fruiting bodies can be pretty interesting as Frank found out at Beeac recently .This one not only forms and incrediblY STRONG lattice web but it stinks characteristically like rotting meat .
Don't ever study to become an grass agronomist(grasses and fungi) as all you ever see for the first few years is straight lines that tell you plain nothin .
When you find flowers , seed heads OR FRUITING BODIES (like this one ), you not only have something specific to the species, but YOU ALSO can also find out something about what it grew on( now near end of its life) and when what MAKES IT TICK.

How much humus is good for the soil ?

2006-06-29T07:36:00.000+10:00

Its all very well leaving lots of carbohides for the soil, but I like to see the grass grow - and so I trust, do the cows - esp at this time of the year . The chorus of concern, when I started raking up the oak leaves on the lawn this week reminded me of how much the public mood has swung towards preserving the largely undeserving. Humus
Keeping more of the plant residue has its downside. Besides humus can look after itself around here. If anything, in a wet climate like ours, its too persistent and a problem for ecosystem productivity . Not that we should be racist and treat all humuses the same.
The great crop of mushrooms we got this May was partly due to high root residue. Root residue that could have got into the mouths of the top feeders. So we are getting generous --and that's good for our soils isn't it ? To a point you bet !
As always, it is a matter of balance .
Take these oak leaves on the lawn. In the northern hemisphere, these highly effective killer leaves control ground growth so effectively that the oak forests thrive . The huge mulch effect is good for one plant and one plant only. Its seed so big its needs a pile of leaves to bury it . Ok, if you just want a forest full of frog leaves .
So you can have too much of a good thing. Creating excess carbs means something else you haven't counted may come and compete- like cockchafers have been doing too recently or some highly effective bacteria with guts . Nearly everybody in the household is looking for a free feed and a lot depends on what we hard working types want our real estate communities to be doing with all that sun derived sugar . By feeding the lower storeys, we can be risking the opportunity to feed the upper storeys. House hold leadership is about saying No sometimes!
Next time i won't go round raking up the fibre; I 'll smash those big fat persistent carbohides like the cows do --with a machinator called a mower .
That way, at least, I won't have the oaks trying to take over Australia and the passing public won't be worried that I am about to burn huge piles of their very effective little wafer brains. Copyright

Plantation Planning -

2006-06-10T09:48:00.000+10:00

Planning Scheme reviews- now on , but only just
For those concerned about things that are not well planned in the district, ( like dairy land conversions) there is still time to make submissions to Your Shire.
The common tendency to try and STOP THINGS at Appeal is very reactive,expensive and unreliable. There are better ways to get well planned landscape change . However it seems some sound method planning lessons will to have to be repeated before best practice is back on the to do today list: best practice is not always the latest new idea !!!

A better way than fighting nimby LIKE, is to map areas and make sure independant advice is provided to council BEFORE decisions get to far down the road.
What's old is new again
This is largely what the CEO of colac shire means when she talked recently about the importance of a new idea called preapplication consultaTion---new to some anyway.
The problem is that this important job, while it was done constistently up until a few years ago is no longer happening, even it had been for the first thirty years of our conservation departments history.Maps and GIS are "more imp"??? who knows?
Speak up and make history by making history lessons less critical .
As a matter of interest , I started the first GIS liasson group in 1991. Five shires and the State rep was involved . The blurb made a point I wanted the other planners to be ready for --from their managers - that mere maps would largely only remind us how little we knew;( even now the latest maps I have produced used over 110 layers and they were still elementary in impact on decisionmaking determinants ) biodiversity and risk planning maps were plain dangerous in the hand of non integrators . You only had to watch how administrators easily abused the risk maps I produced for Lorne district in 1984 .

The big question In the last fifteen years , have we learnt how to best use process and better use maps . Don't ask me, unless you want the short answer.

Looking for native plant pictures?

2006-04-21T11:26:00.000+10:00

One of the best ways to learn more about the country is by using images -google images. Just type in a species name . He's a tassy forest site with some sound ecological prescriptors. Geoff is going to publish soon some more orchid stuff too ,aren't you geoff!

Emerging issues

2006-04-04T11:57:00.000+10:00

Whose doing what about the pampas grass invasion ?These plants in the heytesbury are clearly propagating from the numerous seeds produced and carried to all four corners of the district.

AUTUMN activities

2006-04-04T11:54:00.000+10:00

APRIL bats 52316913 john rees frogs 52316913 even soils in July Anything you are concerned about? Recent news on BIG MOTHS now , WEED issues

Bush tucker for GOR tourists?

2006-04-04T11:39:00.000+10:00

BOGUNG moths are back in town. Are they big in number in your area ? they can eat a bit of pasture in spring. At the moment they don't need to, but the more eggs they lay the more cutworms we may get in spring. If you find any actively feeding worms in the next month or so , local treatment should be considered.

Start eating.... or thinking of some other hungry animal ?
Aborigines loved to eat bogongs. They used to come up from the coast during the migration to feast on them. They are reported to taste somewhere between a pecan and a walnut but, because of the high fat content, can cause nausea if consumed in large quantities. Anyone tried them ? Apparently cutworm moths are a delicacy all over the dry parts of the world .Grissles in the US love them too. Great site on Insects at http://www.ento.csiro.au/insect_id/index.html

The Best Chips

2006-03-17T10:35:00.000+11:00

Noted no answer to the soggy chips question? Lambs is it just new season sag . and after all your experience, where are the best places to grow spuds /where are they going to be grown for next 10yrs ?

Save us from the whales

2006-03-09T07:27:00.000+11:00

( A dead whale rotting on SW coast beach makes big News this week)
Any ideas on how to dispose of a dead whale on a beach?. Its a great challenge that has got many locals talking and thinking over the years . It seems we are still looking for a solution .
Some have tried blowing them up, some burying them . Blowing up -Not very nice effect though. The effect, if not the thinking, is very lateral with body parts moving in all directions .
The most effective idea seems to be to take them back out to sea where food is scarce and the process of recycling fast and efficient . But how do we do that? The big problem seems to be how to move the body intact -a big enough ship? a big enough pulley . Any suggestions very welcome . Japanese ships need not apply, it seems .

Perhaps some of the radicals at the Port Fairy folk festival this week could run a shuttle service for parts disposal to sea . Port Fairy will need to develop an effective dead whale management strategy very soon . After all the chances of it happening there are increasing . Imagine how the presence of this particular piece of wildlife would affect the ambience on the long weekend music festival. Shudder to think !

Burying them is well ny impossible on the SW coast because of the shore platforms . Bouyancy is clearly a problem wherever they go . They hangin therein the aerobic zone, oh so naturall.
Anyone whose got a good idea that works will be most welcome cause i think the consensus is that no one knows quite what to do with the death issue. ( Whale rotting on SW coast makes news this week)

Blackwoods -get the seed NOW

2006-02-28T14:24:00.000+11:00

Here is the distinctive seed close up . Leaves dark green and the head gear around the seed is red . Boil or bake the seed and a plantation you can make .

2006-02-28T14:19:00.000+11:00

Now is the time to collect blackwood seed . The red tinge is a giveaway . Blackwood are great as a tenaciuos replacement for willows in unstable channels - make good shade trees and can be planted in diverse cultures to produce timber.

Old growth Eels?-another case of sentiment before science

2006-02-05T18:25:00.000+11:00

Lots of eels are dying and polluting the foreshores of lakes around here in recent months. Give it a rest, we have had a drought . So why the ass about research effort at Muddyworry on risks evident enough to those who know there stuff. Where are the real world advisers who can put risk into the big picture? Why do we seem to be at the mercy of emotion about environment ? How much does the preservationist doctrine now prevent harvesting of a resource, when it makes sound scientific sense to do so. When they die anyway ? what do you think?

Seasonal Conditions

2006-01-24T16:35:00.000+11:00

November was one of the driest on record in the Heytesbury. Late spring early summer rain is the key to the high sustainability of dairying in this area So rather than cutting silage, farmers were actually feeding it out early summer and for a big change, some local gardens were being watered much more than than usually would be at that time of year .

2005-11-28T14:13:00.000+11:00

SEBAGOS long oval available now and very good for MASH Bruce is home resting and probably itching to edit this

2005-11-28T14:09:00.000+11:00

The SALAD special DESIREE

2005-11-28T14:05:00.000+11:00

MIcrowave Y mash N Now do you know what you are buying and does it taste good? At this time of year it seems the choice is not so good -

Farmers reducing waste

2005-11-20T22:41:00.000+11:00

While It seems the rising cost of plastic( via oil) is contributing to the more conservative use of plastic in the district, the decresing use of rolls for silage storage has got to be welcomed . More silage stacks in your area ?

2005-08-11T10:46:00.000+10:00

Snow as it settled Otwayfly yesterday Photo courtesy of Mark O'Loughlin

2005-08-10T16:47:00.000+10:00

Yes its snowing in Barongarook and elsewhere . maybe you have some photos? . Power outages are still likely in Colac Otways area so switch off/over before it happens again

2005-08-04T17:33:00.000+10:00

If you think I'm not exactly kissable, just be thankful I don't open my mouth . Stans about to give her a hand to get rid of the net !

2005-08-02T14:22:00.000+10:00

What evidence of a high risk natural hazard in is evident in this photo of a proposed works site ?

Australian STORY- Soap or substance on salinity?

2005-06-14T12:39:00.000+10:00

Now that we have had a chance to review the video and land /water issues in the widden valley, a brief outline of the works significance is available from johnniem

2005-06-07T16:30:00.000+10:00

A close up view of fungal hyphae filling up space

2005-06-07T16:28:00.000+10:00

Fungi expand rapidly but only on the surface of soil

Crop Circles, UFO's , fungi and brief autumnal opportunities for them

2005-06-07T15:50:00.000+10:00

The soil shown was taken from a crop circle of knocked down vegetation last week near Irrewillipe . Fungi hyphae haven't got much internal strength or purpose in hanging around ,so they take the quick and easy way generally, compared to say plant roots . As a result, while they almost fully cover the open cracks of the cracking clays( see the photo attached) their penetration inside clods is minimal.(dark is clay surface obtained by breaking up solid clods , white is fungi hyphae) Growing on derived carbohydrate and sugars from the roots of crops in autumn, before the seeds and soil fauna get a chance to grow, they can extend themselves over wide areas near the surface. Presumably its the fruiting and most active sections at the perimeter which seed spores each year and knock down the existing vegetation, creating the circles on the growth perimeter. Will keep you posted. We are still going to check one evening to see if shy aliens are upon us . Non photosynthethic bacteria can take the same opportunity "to feed "at the end of the season - more on that subject in the spring.

Lake Colac - working with nature

2005-06-06T10:41:00.000+10:00

The preservationists view of the lake is limiting its potentail Find out more tommorrow after "the solutions" are announced -we hope !

Floods and Landslides-like New Zealand now?

2005-05-20T06:06:00.000+10:00

Ok so there is no risk here at the moment,... but when it does rain ( We live in the wettest part of Victoria with over 15 million litres to be "bottled" off some of our hectares each year ) What's at risk ? How likely is it we could get what's happening in New Zealand at the moment ?
Houses moving and falling over?

Where? Shallow slides in soil and road fill are common in wet periods . Big slides are possible, especially around Apollo bay, but not always easily predicted . The best examples being the slide in 1952 that created Lake Elizabeth ( great new walk there with platypuses and all) ., one large one on Halls ridge in the 1990's and the slide which damned Wye river several hundred years ago .
When ?
October is when things are wettest, but high saturation of soils is common in August through to November. Along the coast risk of high 24hr rainfall totals is possible throughout the year due particularly to easterly influences. more info mreforce@ telstra.com

Why? Even though we live in the biggest landslide risk area in Australia ,our land forms are much older and generally more stable. But that doesn't mean complacency in the Otways and Heytsbury areas. There after all some big old slides that are still just sitting on the sides of hills waiting for that very wet period to move them along a bit.
As for flooding damage , there is one house featured in the paper this week , that is in a gorge - likely to go sometime in the next few decades.

How dry has it been?

2005-05-05T12:52:00.000+10:00

Enough to mean there is a high risk of electrical shocks when we get the first bit of rain !( previous story)
Apparently Lake colac is only about an 1" or so higher than it was this time last year . It may be 3 or so inches higher than it was at its driest a few years ago .......and its highly polluted
Maybe its time to do something to help nature along and " do someting about Lake Colac " You bet it is! What do you think? email to mreforce@telstra.com

Saltwatching and risk management

2005-05-05T11:55:00.000+10:00

The power just went in Colac for about an hour today. Many lives were affected and work stopped . Most (I trust) rejoiced that we could stop work and ....had a chance to do something extra ordinary....like think about life after the b grade ( apparently) episodes? .

Naturally, as a conscientious risk management person I asked why this million dollar deficit in work not done ,.... and as a planner(http://planningandenvironment) " how could this be avoided"
Actually I skipped work for a while while the power was off ... and that was wonderful .

So what's all this stuff got to do with salt .

Well its most likely that its salty water that shorted the system somewhere out in the drizzle niches. The dust collecting on isulators over the last six months was, in the half hour of drizzle that preceeded the failure, just enough to cause high conductivity on the surface of the insulators . A dangerous moment soon past as fresh rainwater dissipates the risk and erodes the soil and salt .So watch out or should we say wash out ( and dry).

Don't forget its Salt week this week - a good time to collect samples of water in your ecossystems Why ? Because its the time when salinity in stream and spring water is usually the highest and most predictive of whats's happening near you . Bring your samples to any office of DPI . This week before it rains!!!!!

2005-05-02T10:58:00.000+10:00

how do you ripen green tomatoes.

Wild weather today

2005-04-28T13:30:00.000+10:00

100ha Fire currently near Stoneyford More info http://fireweb.nre.vic.gov.au/

2005-04-28T08:57:00.000+10:00

Find out what's happening on fireweb

Where there is smoke, there is panic

2005-04-08T08:26:00.000+10:00

Apparently, according to rednecks around Colac last weekend. "The Otways were alight"- That wind was very scary . Many of my few friends,( why are they all in the CFA)were off " to fight".
I looked over to the south, went past the office in a panic; nobody about . Calm returned . There is lots of burning going on and the restrictions are lifted. If you are concerned, the best number to ring is 1800 240 667 for up to date news,reports and comments. Otherwise bookmark http://fireweb.dse.vic.gov.au where you will find these up to date map gems under "State maps". Very calm air periods on autumn days exaggerates the contrast and the danger of breakouts when the wind picks up like it did in the middle of the day! You try sailing now in the evening!
I will put the map up soon you can see how good it is for getting info quickly and locally .

2005-03-22T13:04:00.000+11:00

If this is air , what gases do the white , red and green balls represent? At the recent ACME field days , some children knew, but no adults recognised the nature of the 10 green balls in about 30000 in the glass column.

Lake Colac's ups and downs

2005-02-03T14:58:00.000+11:00

Down 30 up 32 Lake Colac rose by approximately 32 mm as a result of heavy rain in the last few days .(rainfall 30mm) So runoff, even from the town's hardsurfacing was insignificant overall. Just shows you how important intensity and longetivity is in producing runoff. The still very wet geelong road area had about twice the rain and twice the hours .

Several very warm days in the week before dropped the level by 30mm