Salinity Province 49, Indigo Valley

The small Indigo Valley Salinity Province has been extensively cleared and the natural vegetation replaced by dryland annual pasture. Saline discharge sites mainly occur at the ‘break-of-slope’ between the steep upper-slopes and the less steep mid-slope region and in low-lying depressions on the valley floor associated with the shallow bedrock.

The dominant Groundwater Flow Systems are local to intermediate in scale and occur in the fractured sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and in colluvium and alluvium deposits overlying the bedrock. The major recharge areas are the metamorphic ridges and grey sandy clay soils of the mid-lower slopes.

Management of salinity requires establishing or retaining deep-rooted native pastures on the ridges and upper-slopes; planting tree belts at the ‘break-of-slope’; ‘Alley Farming’ with trees and perennial pasture across the mid and lower-slopes, and establishing salt-tolerant pastures on the groundwater discharge areas.