Salinity Management in the Goulburn Broken CMA

Salinity Indicator Plants I Salinity Provinces in the Goulburn Broken CMA

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) on the Murray Darling Basin Commission website (external link). 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. 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 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 on the Australian Academy of Sciences website (external link).

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 Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website provides a range of salinity information (external link) (including major programs and initiatives, research and development, salinity advice and salinity monitoring and assessment) as well as information about the National Dryland Salinity Program (external link) (including salinity mapping methods, Groundwater Flow Systems, desalinisation technologies and the Australian Dryland Salinity Assessment 2000).

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