Salinity Province 18, Campaspe East Loddon Plains

Thumbnail image showing the location of the Campaspe East Loddon Plains Salinity Province in Victoria The Campaspe_East Loddon Plains Salinity Province covers a relatively large area of over 100,000ha and is located on the west side of the Campaspe River up to the Murray River floodplains. It occurs on alluvial, floodplain origin unconsolidated sediments, which form a large, regional scale Groundwater Flow System.

The majority of the province (the east and central areas) is part of the Shepparton Irrigation Region (SIR). Water for irrigation is supplied mainly from the Goulburn River via the Waranga Western Channel, with supplementary water from the Campaspe Deep Lead and diversion from the Campaspe River. High watertables, waterlogging and salinity followed development of irrigation and peaked in 1995 following the 1950s to ‘90s wet years. It then declined during the 10 years of drought from 1999 to 2009. Depth to watertable maps of the SIR area can be found on the Goulburn-Broken CMA website .

Being a mix of dryland and irrigation country, salinity has had differing impacts and management approaches applied to each.

Province Attributes

Catchment Management Region:	NORTH CENTRAL
Priority Status:	High
Province Area:	106,980 ha
Recorded Soil Salinity Area ¹:	32 ha
Dominant Surface Geology Type:	Sedimentary
Influence of Geological Structure on Salinity Occurrence/s:	Possible
Relevant Geomorphological Mapping Units (GMUs):	4.2.2, 4.2.1
Predominant Groundwater Flow Systems (GFSs):	Regional
Relevant Irrigation Areas:	Rochester, Pyramid-Boort

Campaspe East Loddon Plains Salinity Province Map

A detailed map showing the Campaspe East Loddon Plains Salinity Province

Links to further reading and material related to the North Central Salinity Province
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.

Page top