The Effect of Afforestation on Water Runoff in the Woodburn Catchment Area

Weekly runoff and rainfall records for 1960–71 are analysedin this paper for two catchments: a forest area, planted between1958 and 1960, of 111.5 ha and a grass area kept permanentlyfor grazing of 26.5 ha. Analysis of the data failed to detectany significant changes in the water yield from the forestedcatchment. The experiment has demonstrated the difficultiesof making precise measurements and comparisons from data collectedin areas of rolling topography where soils among other factorsdiffer.