Salinity Province 137, Woorndoo

Thumbnail image showing the location of the Woorndoo Salinity Province in Victoria The Woorndoo Salinity Province is a medium sized province underlain by a variety of bedrock types that are deeply weathered to a thick regolith and overlain in a few places by marine beach ridges and strandlines. Primary salinity features found in the province are small saline lakes formed in-between the recent marine strandline sediments. Groundwater often feeds these features from local and intermediate Groundwater Flow Systems, but land clearing changed the water balance causing secondary expansion of the primary salinity features and groundwater fed areas of soil waterlogging. Groundwater salinity can be up to 15,000 mg/l and sodic soils reflect the salinity history of low-lying parts of this province.

Management options primarily involve reducing recharge by increasing plant water uptake and by ‘living-with-salt’ around the primary salinity (discharge) features. Protecting the at risk margins of the lakes from soil damage during wetter periods is also particularly important.

Province Attributes

Catchment Management Region:	GLENELG-HOPKINS
Priority Status:	High
Province Area:	49,780 ha
Recorded Soil Salinity Area ¹:	1,279 ha
Dominant Surface Geology Type:	Sedimentary
Influence of Geological Structure on Salinity Occurrence/s:	None
Relevant Geomorphological Mapping Units (GMUs):	2.3.3
Predominant Groundwater Flow Systems (GFSs):	Local/Intermediate
Relevant Irrigation Areas:	N/A

Woorndoo Salinity Province Map

A detailed map showing the Woorndoo Salinity Province

Links to further reading and material related to the Glenelg Hopkins Salinity Province
Groundwater Flow Systems (GFS) in the Glenelg Hopkins CMR

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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