SA Water Major Funding Partner

SA Water will help fund the Tree Scheme, ensuring the cost of propagation materials will remain affordable for landholders across the state

Last year, SA Water and Trees For Life again joined forces by signing a three-year sponsorship of the Tree Scheme program.

SA Water supports activities and programs aligned to its strategic objectives. Since 2004, SA Water and Trees For Life have partnered together to work towards a sustainable future – first with the Bush For Life program as a Golden Wattle sponsor, and now as major sponsor of the Tree Scheme.

This new funding means a great deal to all TFL members, especially landholders. The Tree Scheme is partly subsidised by TFL members and the Northern York NRM Board, however SA Water’s contribution will offset the remainder of the scheme’s costs.

SA Water is committed to sustainable and efficient land use, the restoration of water catchment areas (and in turn improvement of water quality), and the involvement of the community.

SA Water manages around 80,000 hectares of land across South Australia and is the single largest landowner in the Mount Lofty Ranges. It is committed to playing a leading role in providing a sustainable and secure water supply for the community and minimising its impact on the environment.

A range of projects and programs demonstrate SA Water’s commitment to this objective including:

• The $3.08 million Mount Bold revegetation project – involving the retirement of grazing leases and the establishment of a self-sustaining native vegetation landscape across more than 450 hectares of the Mount Bold and Clarendon Weir reservoir reserve;
• Carbon Biosequestration project – involving the revegetation of 700 hectares of SA Water land;
• Continued plantings at reservoirs, water tank sites by staff, volunteers and the community.

This partnership between SA Water and TFL addresses SA Water's objective 'providing a sustainable and secure water supply for the community and minimise our impact on the environment'.

SA Water has already produced an excellent garden resourceWaterRight Gardens webtool, which is designed to assist home gardeners with key decisions about how much water your garden needs. The tool helps you manage your garden and watering requirements to help maintain a healthy garden in all seasons.

The tool requires you to input your specific information and provides a model of plant type, soil characteristics, wind and shade factors and irrigation systems to estimate watering schedules. It then provides advice on optimum watering requirements - how often and how long, provides options and advice on waterwise plant selections and tips, tricks and tailored advice to create low water use landscapes.

> Check out Urban Forests Backyards 4 Wildlife website for some other garden ideas

> TFL has some excellent resource books for sale to help you when planning your garden or revegetation

Visit SA Water for water saving tips this summer