DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Victorian Resources Online - Corangamite

Salinity Management

Salinity Monitoring | Salinity Processes | Groundwater Flow Systems | Salinity Indicator Plants

This section has been developed in association with Peter Dahlhaus, University of Ballarat.

Salinity has been a feature of the Corangamite region for at least 20 000 years. The development of the large clay lunettes at Lake Corangamite and Lake Murdeduke testify to the salinity of these lakes. Clay lunettes form during arid periods when the lake beds are dry salt pans, where salt accumulates by evaporation of groundwater discharge. Historical evidence for primary salinity is documented in accounts of the early exploration and ‘salt’ is often used as a descriptive adjective for lakes and creeks in the region.



At present 20 538 hectares of salinity have been mapped in the Corangamite region by DPI's Centre for Land Protection Research (CLPR). About half of the mapped salinity is primary, although this distinction has little meaning anyway in situations where the rate of naturally occurring salinity is modified by human changes to the environment, especially when the changes have occurred over centuries. The mapping does not include all large lakes, such as Lake Corangamite, or all estuarine areas, such as the Aire River estuary. In fact, the salinity mapping is regarded as incomplete and it is believed that many hectares of salt affected land remain unmapped.

Related Links

  • Murray-Darling Basin Salinity Audit (external link). Provides detailed predictions for all major river valleys in the Murray-Darling Basin for the next 20, 50 and 100 years.

  • 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 (ANZECC) 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) is 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).



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