Site 6: Salt Patch, Beaufort Road (issue: discharge)

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Landscape

Head out of Lexton toward Beaufort, 100 metres after the turn-off to Brewster. Pull over to the side of the road and make your way to the fence where you will see a large grassed area with trees on the high ground to the rear.

This is a saline discharge site that was repaired in 1990. What we had was a large depression with water seeping in from the high ground to the rear, where the recharge was occurring. Water moved through the gravel banks, picked up salts and emerged at the base of the slope to the rear, washing the area with salty water, killing all vegetation, sealing the soil and making any plant growth impossible.

Issues

1. Saline discharge. Killing off vegetation on site because of salts in water.
2. Surface sealing. Salt accumulation meant the surface set like concrete making plant growth impossible. Continued stock walking or camping in the bare area has also been a contributor to the problem.
3. Loss of soil structure. Loss of plants, sealing, and loss of other organisms has been part of the ongoing decline in the health of this site.

The Restoration Process

Firstly the area was deep ripped to break up the sealed surface. This allows rainwater to penetrate - leaching salts down from the surface. Trees were planted across the back to create a buffer zone in the soil profile, with their roots, that would intercept the discharge moving into the area. Finally the area itself was sown down to a range of salt tolerant species, in particular American tall wheat grass, phalaris and strawberry clover.

This vegetation has successfully established and through transpiration has kept the water level below the surface in the site, protecting it from further salt damage. You will also notice a large number of eucalyptus trees growing on the road side of the area. These have naturally re-generated following the surface ripping. The seed itself has been dropped from the large tree on your right, and may be many years old.

The longer-term plan for this area is its continued protection from grazing and minor works to increase grass cover on the discharge site, and help rebuild the soil structure of the site.