Salinity Management

Salinity is a serious issue that can impact on agriculture, infrastructure and environmental values. The extent and severity of salinity, and the trends, are not yet well researched or documented.

Salinity Evaluation and Planning

Planning for salinity control in the region is incomplete and there has been inconsistent analysis across the region. Some planning has been undertaken in particular areas, and is recorded in separate documents including the Corangamite Salinity Management Plan (for parts of the Werribee and upper Maribyrnong catchments). The Port Phillip and Westernport CMA, in conjunction with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), has responded to this situation by engaging DPI's Centre for Land Protection Research (CLPR) to review the knowledge of salinity issues in the Port Phillip and Westernport region. This work is being undertaken as a first step to developing a regional Salinity Management Plan.

DPI has been involved in several aspects of salinity management including:

• Catchment-wide mapping of discharge sites to identify new discharge areas and to determine the growth and spread of salinity within catchments.
• Distribution of current maps to Landcare groups as a basis for salinity planning; and
• Localised EM38 salinity mapping and soil salinity surveys to monitor the potential and current impact of salinity.

The aim of the DPIs land management program is to encourage revegetation on private land in conjunction with normal productive enterprises. This will reduce recharge to groundwater tables by intercepting the vertical and horizontal flow of water in the soil profile to make productive use of saline discharge areas, or to lower the watertable in areas where it is close to the surface.

Source: Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority Annual Report 2000-2001.

Related Links

Murray-Darling Basin Salinity Management Strategy. Information about the 15 year Basin Salinity Management Strategy (2001-2015) (external link) on the Murray Darling Basin Commission website. Includes downloadable documents.

Murray-Darling Basin Salinity Audit. A link to the Murray Darling Basin Commission website.

Effectiveness of Current Farming Systems in the Control of Dryland Salinity (external link).

Victorian Dryland Salinity in Context (external link). Information in the Australian Natural Resource Atlas.

Australia's Dryland Salinity Assessment 2000 (external link). Information on extent, impacts, processes, monitoring and management options related to dryland salinity in Australia. Completed as part of the National Land and Water Resources Audit.

The CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity (external link) is a national research organisation that will provide new plant-based land use systems that lessen the economic, environmental and social impacts of dryland salinity and thereby help to sustain rural communities. This will be achieved through an improved understanding of the way natural and agricultural ecosystems work.

The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council now defunct, established a Task Force to investigate the current state of knowledge and provide a basis for incorporating biodiversity conservation aims into salinity management plans. A report entitled Implications of Salinity for Biodiversity Conservation and Management (external link) was published. This report aims to raise awareness and demonstrate how, if appropriately designed, actions to mitigate salinity can at the same time contribute to biodiversity conservation outcomes.

The National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) (external link) is a major commitment for applying regional solutions to salinity and water quality problems. The aim is for all levels of government, community groups, individual land manager and local businesses to work together in tackling salinity and improving water quality. Around Australia, 21 priority regions affected by salinity and water quality problems are being targeted. Part of the emphasis of the National Action Plan is on mapping salinity in the landscape. The resulting maps will help land managers develop more effective strategies for dealing with salinity based on better knowledge of how salt spreads through the landscape.

The National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) (external link) now defunct was a lead knowledge broker of research, development and extension efforts to combat the risk of dryland salinity in Australia. The NDSP website provides information on: airborne geophysics, salinity tools, engineering options, cost of salinity and catchment classification. The website also includes a Salinity Information Package (external link) which contains over 40 information sheets which provide a step-by-step framework to understand the complex relationships between salinity, socio-economics, land systems and management options.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia website provides a range of documents related to Salinity Risk Management (external link) in Australia (including: the salinity problem; integrated salt risk characterisation and salinity risk management).

Information about salinity (external link) on the Australian Academy of Sciences website.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Innovation tabled its report on June 21st 2004 - entitled Science overcoming salinity: Coordinating and extending the science to address the nation's salinity problem (external link). A copy of the entire report is available for download on the Parliament of Australia House of Representatives website.

The Saltland Pastures Association (external link) website provides information related to making saltland productive.

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