Les Jones: Forest/Water Management Theory Bites the Dust

August 11, 2005

Science > Forest/Water Management Theory Bites the Dust

From the BBC:

Misguided views on water management - in particular the idea that planting forests improves water supplies - have encouraged major investments in water resource projects that are ineffective or counter-productive, a study has found.
The report by the Forestry Research Programme said the use of trees had been overplayed as a solution to the world's water problems.

And it added that in many cases forests actually led to a decrease in usable water.

I recall in my college dendrology class Dr. Buckner talking about a failed theory of de-desertification in which trees were planted. The theory was that every place that had water had trees, ergo trees caused water (rather than the other way around). Even then in the '80s/early '90s it was recognized as a goofy idea.

Posted by lesjones

Comments

Umm, Yeah. Don't you, like, know that when it's, like, cold...someplace, it means that there's more snow, and stuff? So the way to, like, you know, stop global warming, and fix the ozone layer is to make it snow, like, where it's hot, and stuff. Man, I've got cottonmouth. Let's go get some tacos!

Posted by: Matt Groom at August 11, 2005