Salinity Province 63, Lindsay Wallpolla

The medium sized Lindsay-Wallpolla Salinity Province is in far NW Victoria, bounded to the North by the Murray River and covering the area from Wentworth to the South Australian border, much of which is uncleared land.

Two small areas of irrigation near Culleraine and Lindsay amid dryland grazing and cropping are confined to the Sturt Highway corridor. Like all other Mallee provinces, a regional scale Groundwater Flow System (GFS) comprising marine and alluvial origin sediment, with possible structural control (geological faults) aiding groundwater discharge, underlies this area. Local to intermediate scale GFSs associated with the dunes and younger alluvial sediments along the Murray River trench are associated with mostly primary salinity features such as Lake Wallawalla and the conveyance of highly saline groundwater to the Murray River. Natural (primary) salinity processes in this already high salinity landscape have been exacerbated by increased groundwater recharge associated with irrigation development. The main salinity management initiatives are saline groundwater interceptions schemes that divert groundwater to evaporation basins away from the river