Salinity Management

Salinity Indicator Plants

Salinity Management Plans

The Goulburn Broken Region is covered by two Salinity Management Plans (SMP) the Shepparton Irrigation Region Land and Water Management Plan (SIRLWMP) and the Goulburn Broken Dryland Salinity Management Plan (GBDSMP).

See also Salinity Management Plans - Victoria.

Shepparton Irrigation Region Land and Water Salinity Management Plan (SIRLWMP)

The SIRLWMP covers the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR) and is located in the North of the Catchment. The SIR is approximately 500 000 ha in area. About 455,000 ha is farmed and the remainder is urban and public land. The farmed area contains 284,000 ha of irrigated land.

The 1997 Census of Land Use in the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR) shows the major land uses in the irrigated area as:

Uses:	Pasture	Crops	Orchards	Vegetables	Grapes	Woodlots	Other	Total
Total (ha):	275,041	14,640	10,936	3,231	556	328	715	305,447

In the 1993/94 financial year, output from the SIR was $4,500 million of which $816 million was derived from agriculture (Econosearch et al 1996).

The SIR is relatively flat cleared land with a shallow ground watertable with many areas of the region having a watertable within 3 m of the surface. The bedrock of the region is naturally rich in salt and with the rising of the watertable salinity has become a major regional issue.

Goulburn Broken Dryland Salinity Management Plan (GBDSMP)

The dryland portion of the catchment covers approximately 1,830,000 ha (about 75% of the catchment) of which 33% is forested, 60% is general agriculture (cropping and grazing) with the remainder used for intensive agriculture (horticulture and irrigation), softwood plantations and urban areas. A report on Goulburn Broken Dryland Salinity Management Plan - 1995-2001 review is available on the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority website (external link). To view the information PDF requires the use of a PDF reader. This can be installed for free from the Adobe website (external link).

The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority website provides information on:

Balancing the salt budget for the Shepparton Irrigation Region. To view the information PDF requires the use of a PDF reader. This can be installed for free from the Adobe website (external link).

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 (external link). Provides detailed predictions for all major river valleys in the Murray-Darling Basin for the next 20, 50 and 100 years.
• Effectiveness of Current Farming Systems in the Control of Dryland Salinity (external link). A downloadable CSIRO publication on the Murray Darling Basin Commission website.
• Victorian Dryland Salinity in Context (external link). Information in the Australian Natural Resource Atlas.
• Australia's Dryland Salinity Assessment 2000. 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).
• 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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