Salinity Province 39, Gunbower Benjeroop

Thumbnail image showing the location of the Gunbower Benjeroop Salinity Province in Victoria The Gunbower_Benjeroop Salinity Province covers a large area from northwest of Echuca along the Murray River to about 20km southeast of Swan Hill.

The Province includes the protected wetlands of the Gunbower Forest and Island, a depositional basin that contains a number of still water channels and miscellaneous floodplain depressions, while a number of intermittent terminal lakes also occur within the province. A high impact, regional scale Groundwater Flow System (GFS) drives salinity into the river and billabong system, while the overlying local to intermediate scale GFSs in the surface alluvial and aeolian sediments are responsible for some minor groundwater induced secondary salinity around the lake system. The province is an important recreational area and recently initiated environmental flows now occur within the Gunbower Forest. High watertables of moderate to high salinity have been recorded along the southwestern edge of the forest, presumably due to irrigation of the nearby farmland.

Salinity in the irrigated private land is managed through an integrated program of improved irrigation efficiency, control of high watertables and supported environmental protection works.

Province Attributes

Catchment Management Region:	NORTH CENTRAL
Priority Status:	High
Province Area:	186,010 ha
Recorded Soil Salinity Area ¹:	0 ha
Dominant Surface Geology Type:	Sedimentary
Influence of Geological Structure on Salinity Occurrence/s:	None
Relevant Geomorphological Mapping Units (GMUs):	4.2.X, 4.1.1
Predominant Groundwater Flow Systems (GFSs):	Regional & Local/Intermediate
Relevant Irrigation Areas:	Pyramid-Boort, Torrumbarry

Gunbower Benjeroop Salinity Province Map

A detailed map showing the Gunbower Benjeroop Salinity Province

Links to further reading and material related to the North Central Salinity Province
For further information relating to groundwater levels and salinities in this Province please see: Visualising Victoria's Groundwater (VVG)

¹ Please Note: The ‘Recorded Soil Salinity Area’ indicated in the Salinity Province Attribute Table, comprises the total geographic area that has been mapped as having, or showing symptoms of, dryland soil salinity at some time (past or present). As dryland salinity occurrence in the Victorian landscape exhibits many different levels of severity and can change due to climate, landuse and vegetation, previously mapped areas may no longer be showing symptoms. In addition, as not all parts of the State have been mapped, or mapped in the same way, the mapping may not have captured some occurrences.

The soil salinity mapping used to calculate this ‘area’ does not cover irrigation regions. In irrigation regions, depth to watertable and watertable salinity mapping has been used to convey the threat of high watertables on soil waterlogging and/or soil salinisation and these areas are not included in this ‘area‘ calculation.

Please contact the Department, your Catchment Management Authority or your rural water provider for more information about salinity in your location.

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