The Watchem West Salinity Province is located in the northern section of the Wimmera Catchment west of Lake Buloke on the broad flat riverine plain. Dryland cropping is common along with grazing on annual and perennial pasture. It has a regional scale Groundwater Flow System (GFS) consisting of marine and alluvial sediments and an extensive ‘deep lead’ (paleo-river channel) system underlying a broad alluvial plain.
The province also has a wide extent of shallow groundwater in local scale GFSs in aeolian and alluvial sediments, with salinity expressed as discrete occurrences in some low-lying parts of the landscape. The monitoring bore network records groundwater in both the upper and lower aquifers and indicates a shallow watertable of high salinity.
‘Living-with-salt’ options have generally been adopted with the salt affected areas being only infrequently grazed or revegetated with native species.
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