Environment
The major problem with water safety
Dr ALISON BLEANEY
The major problem with water safety in Tasmania is the lack of protection of drinking water catchments. The other problem is the loss of potentially food producing land to forestry.
The acreage of forestry plantations has increased significantly in Break O’Day (and many other) catchments in the last 10 years. Forestry companies such as Gunns and FEA do not and are not required to inform water bodies or other water users, which pesticides they are using on any specific plantation site. They say that they use only a small number of pesticides which can be found in publically available documentation such as the APVMA website.