Lithgow Oberon Landcare Landscape Rehydration workshop
The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) is dedicated to collaborating with landholders to boost and preserve biodiversity throughout New South Wales (NSW). Using funding from the Private Land Conservation Matters Project, Lithgow Oberon Landcare partnered with the Mulloon Institute to host a workshop dedicated to Landscape Rehydration, with the aim of teaching local producers how to manage water on their properties in dry times and control water and reduce erosion during wet seasons.
The Landscape Rehydration workshop with Mulloon Institute bought together a group of 15 primary producers from the Oberon district to learn about strategies to optimize a farms water cycle.
This included a shearing shed session where participants were introduced to theoretical aspects of the water cycle and landscape management for rehydration. The message focused on slowing water down and soaking it into the landscape, as well as the importance of vegetation.
From the shed, we had a dirt floor demonstration of how water flows across the landscape using a bucket of water, a slope and bare soil. Workshop attendees could see, in miniature, the way water fanned out, created erosion and incisions in the landscape.
After the demonstration, the group walked and talked, looking at how water flows across paddocks and how it might be slowed down and stored in landscape. They also looked at wooded sections of the property and discussed ideas for how to capture more water through grasses, swales, timbers layered across contours and other techniques.
Following the walk, the group enjoyed a BBQ lunch, which gave everyone the opportunity to discuss their own properties and options they may have to control erosion on their properties.