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Salinity Management

Statewide - Salinity Management | Salinity Indicator Plants | Understanding Salinity | Salinity Action Plan 2007 | Reversing the trend - North East Salinity Strategy 1997

The threat of dryland salinity is a relatively new phenomenon in the North East region only manifesting itself in the last 50 or so years. Rising ground water trends through the 1990’s led to an increase in saline sites being identified and in community and agency interest in salinity in the region. The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Catchment Management Authority (CMA) responded to this threat by implementing the North East Salinity Strategy affectionately known as “NESSI”.

A key focus of NESSI was to increase community awareness of salinity, as there was a perception that salinity did not occur in the region. This lead to the development of a variety of educational materials, technical and monitoring reports specific to the region. In 2002 a review of NESSI was undertaken, with the findings used in the development of the Draft North East Salinity Action Plan 2007. Activities such as on-ground works, research and raising community awareness continue to be implemented across the region in salinity priority areas.

Across the region there are 240 mapped saline discharge sites covering 1,311 hectares. Of these salinity sites 36% are located within 50m of a waterway, and 54% are located within 100m of a waterway. Each year approximately 180,000 tonnes of salt is exported annually from the river systems.

The variety of plans, technical reports and educational materials that have been produced can be accessed from the VRO Website.

There is a range of Salinity Publications available for download on the VRO website. These include:


Copies of the North East Sustainability & Science Information (NESSI) Newsletter area available for download on the VRO website.

Related Links

  • 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 Future Farm Industries (CRC) (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 Concil (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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