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ISSUE No. 4

The Magazine of Australia’s National Dryland Salinity Program

Personal stories
of Australians
combatting
and learning
to live with
dryland salinity

Productive, profitable
solutions for dryland salinity

magazine

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Welcome to SALT magazine
initiative by having provided
his is the fourth edimuch of the knowledge-base
tion of SALT magazine
upon which the Plan builds.
and it is difficult to
The National Action Plan is sigcomprehend the changes
nificant for a number of reasons.

that have taken place since
First, it will direct the largest sum
the first edition. These
of funds ever allocated by the
changes have included major
Commonwealth
government
government announcements
specifically towards tackling dryand new programs at both
land
salinity
nation-wide.
the federal and state levels;
Second, it will allocate resources
further revelation about the
as block-funding against commuextent and nature of the
nity-supported plans at a regional
impact of dryland salinity
Richard Price
scale, overcoming past limitations
Australia-wide; new industry
of project-by-project support for
and educational initiatives;
small, unconnected activities.
and now a fresh new update of the format of
Most significantly, however, it recognises that
this magazine.
there is no one solution to dryland salinity, and
At the time of the first edition of SALT magathat under some circumstances, the most effeczine, still less than two years ago, the majority of
tive and profitable means of managing salinity is

the messages about dryland salinity were largeto take a positive attitude towards utilising
ly negative: War on Salinity! Battle Against the
saline land and groundwater resources.
White Death! Salt. Cancer of the Earth! So read
SALT magazine is about sharing a positive attimany of the headlines of the time.
tude toward the problem. In some cases, the
Yet even then, many success stories were to be
stories in SALT magazine are about the triumphs
told. Many others were taking shape. Solutions
in overcoming a salinity problem. In others, it
for dryland salinity do exist in many circumis about preventing one, or adapting to one.
stances, and these solutions have been successThe new format and distribution of SALT magafully tried where it counts - in the field. The
zine is intended to widen the audience to ensure
Grains Research and Development Corporation
that more and more people become aware about
and Land and Water Australia wanted to capthe triumphs; about the solutions.
ture these success stories, and developed SALT
magazine as the appropriate means of commuOver the next few months, Australia's National
nicating these stories.
Dryland Salinity Program will itself be adapting
Since then, one of the most significant events
to the changes that are taking place. In addition
has been the recent announcement of the Prime
to changing the format of SALT magazine, the
Minister's National Action Plan for Salinity and
Program's Communications team will be
Water Quality. This Plan was endorsed by all
improving our national, state and regional comstate governments at the November 2000 meetmunication effort. Already we have appointed
ing of the Council of Australian Governments
new State Communication Co-ordinators in

(COAG). The National Dryland Salinity
NSW (Lisa Gray) and Queensland (Mark
Program is proud to have contributed to this
Warnick).

T

Kim Mitchell of Currie Communications has
recently been appointed as the National
Communications Coordinator over the remaining life of the current Program (to June 2003).
Together with Bruce Munday (SA), Georgina
Wilson (WA) and Jo Curkpatrick and Diana
Wolfe (Vic), the new members of our team will
add great value to the research, development
and extension effort of the Program.
One final change to the management arrangements of the Program has been my appointment
as the fulltime National Manager. This role
amalgamates the previous part-time Program
Manager position, which I formerly undertook,
with the part-time National Co-ordinator position, formerly undertaken by Nicholas
Newland, and before him by Adrian Webb.
Nicholas has now moved on to take the helm of
the South Australian Environmental Protection
Agency and on behalf of the Program we wish
him well.
While it is trite to say that change is good; it is
more accurate to say that it is inevitable. I look
forward to the changes before us with a great
deal of enthusiasm, and remain committed to
ensuring that Australia's National Dryland

Salinity Program and its partners remain a positive source of innovative and practical research
solutions.
Australia's National Dryland Salinity Program is
a partnership in research, development and
extension tackling the salinity risk to Australia's
land and water resources. For further information about the Program, contact one of our
Communication Co-ordinators (see page 23) or
visit the NDSP website at www.ndsp.gov.au

Richard Price,
NDSP National Manager.

Any recommendations contained in SALT magazine do not necessarily represent the policies of the
National Dryland Salinity Program partners. No person should act on the contents of this publication
whether as to matters of fact or opinion or other content, without first obtaining specific independent
professional advice which confirms the information contained in this publication.

Other contributors

State Governments of WA, SA, Vic, NSW, Qld and Tasmania
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Editorial design & production: WDM Design & Advertising, Adelaide


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M A G A Z I N E

Scald site helps spread
the word on salinity
Case study: Capricorn Coast
Landcare Group
Location: Hedlow Creek (via
Rockhampton)

Capricorn Coast Landcare Group,
project to reverse the
says combating dryland salinity
effects of a major salinity
involves communicating accurate
scald
on
Yeppoon's
information and practical solutions
Capricorn Coast, Queensland, is
to the broader community.
being used as an educational tool to
She also co-ordinates 15 ecologicalreach landholders, councils, the
ly-orientated community groups that
community and school children.
hope to achieve environmental
The salt scald, several hectares in size,
action on a larger scale by pooling
is in the catchment of Hedlow Creek,
talents and resources. For eight
on Old Byfield Road, 25 kilometres
months these groups have been

from Rockhampton.
working on a publication for the
Capricorn Coast Landcare Group
Capricorn Coast region to help those
became involved with the problem
residents not normally environmenthree years ago where it lies adjacent to
tally-minded to become aware of
the saline Hedlow Creek.
trends and solutions in the area.
Group vice-president, Les Embrey, says
Community interaction has included
soil in the area has become very sodic
a Giant Rats Tail Grass field day for
and dispersible making it particularly
landholders, a Waterwatch training
prone to erosion and causing a number
day for locals concerned about water
of trees on a nearby property to die.
Chantelle James, Capricorn Coast Landcare and John
quality, an environmental bus trip
"A corridor of salt tolerant species of
Fletcher, The Caves Catchment Management
for
councillors and managers from
trees, shrubs and grasses have been
Committee, keep tabs on a salinity scald in the
Livingstone Shire Council and eduplanted near the salt scald to lower the
Yeppoon area.
cating the younger community
water table and give some ground

through three junior Landcare
cover," he says.
groups.
astically
with
the
Landcare
group
and
last
year
"The plants were propagated by Yeppoon State
More workshops, field days and information
the youngsters won the Shade and Spade
Primary School's junior Landcarers group.
evenings are planned for 2001. This is typical
Education Award for Arbour Day."
"Pupils from the school have worked enthusiof the mentoring and empowerment work by
As the vegetation grows it is expected to lower
all Landcare and ICM groups across
the water table and link up with nearby trees
Queensland.
to form a wildlife corridor.
The content of these educational activities will
The site has been used for Junior Landcare and
be ascertained following analysis of results
Council excursions and as improvements take
received from a landholder survey conducted
place it will be part of a remedial approach to
in the area for the Capricorn Coast Landcare

educate landholders and the community.
Group's Envirolink Project.
A bore-hole was sunk, allowing the group to
■ Conservation efforts on a major
monitor the level of the water table and salt
salt scald in the Rockhampton
• Les Embrey and Chantelle James spoke with
content on a monthly basis.
region has proven a valuable
John Sanderson
It is hoped that in the future landholders along
educational tool
Hedlow Creek will receive monetary assistance
■ Numerous educational activities
to fence and revegetate riparian zones.
involving the site are assisting to
Revegetation of ridge lines in the catchment
CONTACT:
improve community
could also serve to lessen the movement of
understanding of the salinity
■ Chantelle James, Envirolink Co-ordinator.
salts through the soil profile. Future work will
problem facing the region.
Ph: (07) 4939 1002
depend on trends in the figures.
Chantelle James, Envirolink Co-ordinator for

A

Key points

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Farming with
negligible recharge
Case study: Philip & Diane Down
Location: Meningie, South Australia
Area: 1740 ha
Average Rainfall: 450 mm
Enterprise: Dryland dairy milking
450 cows; Holstein Friesian stud

O

ur attitude to salinity changed one
night in 1988. We have hardly any
salinity on our property, although it
is certainly a very serious issue throughout
the Coorong district.
At the Agricultural Bureau meeting that night,
Steve Barnett, from what was then the
Department of Mines and Energy, showed us a

district map with the areas that were then salt
affected. He then presented hydrographs
showing the rate at which saline ground water
was rising and a map of where salinity would
be in 20 years time. Suddenly we could see
that if nothing was done we could lose half the
farm.
Steve pointed out that local recharge is important in our district as it feeds an unconfined
aquifer which then puts pressure on a deeper
confined aquifer. This is highly saline and is
being forced to the surface, so we all need to be

4

doing our bit to arrest this trend. When we got
out of beef in 1982 we redeveloped the property, incorporating 20 kilometres of 60 metrewide laneways. That did not work on our light
sandy loams with cows walking long distances
to the two dairies, so we decided to rubble
10 m and plant native vegetation in the other
50 m. This took advantage of the fact that one
side was already fenced and when finished we
will have revegetated 100 hectares where previously nothing was growing.
The annual evaporation at Meningie is about
1000 mm greater than the annual rainfall, so
the typical dairy pastures of rye grass and
clover are not a prospect at all. Our whole
property is now under dryland lucerne of
which we renovate 10 per cent each year. We
look after the lucerne by rotating stock
through 12 ha paddocks to give the lucerne at

least 21 days to recover, controlling weeds

(mainly primrose and silver grass) and by
attending to the known soil nutrient deficiencies.
Established lucerne is apparently just about as
good as native vegetation in preventing ground
water recharge. As the lucerne gradually
declines veldt grass takes over, so we always
have perennial plants in the paddock, but the
veldt is not nearly as deep rooted and so far
less effective.
Lucerne underpins our whole operation, but
we don’t like relying on a monoculture for
something as important as ground water control, particularly after the devastation caused in
the late 70s by the blue-green aphid and the
salinity explosion that followed.
We have a 10-year plan to put a 24 m wide
strip of native vegetation down the edge of
every paddock we renovate. This takes almost
a hectare out of each paddock, but running


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M A G A Z I N E

Key points
■ Ground water in the region is rising

■ Vigorous lucerne is very effective
at minimising recharge
■ Native vegetation brings multiple
benefits
■ The Local Action Plan has
mobilised the whole district to
recharge control
■ Sustainable farming is about longterm planning

east-west it will not only reduce recharge,
but also provide a very effective windbreak
which is important as we are so close to the
Southern Ocean.
We started our revegetation program in
1989, planting 3000 tubestock by hand. We
increased this to about 8000 per year using a
tree planter, but it was still hard work involving two people. At this rate we wondered if
we would ever get to the end of our program. In 1992 we tried direct seeding and
had stunning results, despite pretty sloppy
site preparation. All of a sudden this huge
goal we had set seemed achievable.
The next year we did everything by the
book, except controlling the weather which
was a shocker - hot and windy. After days of
crawling around on hands and knees trying
to find a germinating plant we just about
gave up, assuming that most of the seed
probably blew away. But enough eventually
germinated to restore our faith that this really was the way to go. These days we would
not dream of anything other than direct

seeding. They might not all come up in the
year they are sown, but eventually most of
them appear. You just have to be patient with
nature. Our seed mixture is based on a

Opposite page: Well managed lucerne is the key to our productivity and
watertable management. Above: Direct seeded windbreaks will protect
every paddock. Below: Multiple local species help control the watertable
and provide a biodiversity buffer to our agricultural system.

survey we did of nearby native scrub, so
everything is local to the district. We make
sure we have good weed control and ground
preparation and with experience we now
generally get the timing right.
Rabbits used to be a problem, but the calicivirus seems to have reduced their numbers
dramatically. Hares have emerged as a more
recent problem along with kangaroos.
Ironically the revegetation work has provided them with a haven and this is likely to get
worse as we establish more of this.
Lucerne is obviously the key to productivity
on this farm and in a good year like 2000 we
can make about 600 tonnes of pit silage and
350 tonnes of hay. It is also the key to our
sustainability.
But the revegetation is also very high on our
agenda. When we started the redevelopment
there was scarcely a tree standing on the
property. We have a long way to go, but it is

already immensely satisfying to look around
now and see where we have been.
The network of trees and shrubs now support birds we didn’t even know existed,
along with all the other elements of biodiversity which make this a more sustainable
farm.
The Coorong District is a landlocked catchment, so recharge reduction is about the
only way to make sure the salinity problem
does not overtake us. One of the goals of the
Local Action Plan is to reduce recharge by
50 pc over the 10 years from 1994.
As part of the strategy to achieve that we
have received Natural Heritage Trust (NHT)
incentives to establish and manage lucerne
and native vegetation. This has certainly
helped us maintain the pace of redevelopment and it has also encouraged lots of other
landholders to get involved.
This is one of the largest dryland dairies in
SA and we have to keep good quality feed up to the cows every day. But
we also have to take a long-term
view and make sure that our management now ensures that we are still
here to farm it in the future.
• Philip and Diane Down spoke with
Bruce Munday, NDSP Communication
Coordinator (SA)

CONTACT:
■ Bruce Munday, Clear Connections.
Ph: (08) 8538 7075
Fax: (08) 8538 7075
E-mail:

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Photos: Agriculture Western Australia

CORRIGIN

A town of windmills
looks back for answers
Case study: Corrigin Shire Council
Location: 230 km east of Perth, WA
Area: 3095 sq km
Average Rainfall: 350 mm

W

indmills have long provided an image of security
in rural Australia, and a new side to their value
has been reinforced at Corrigin, a town of 1300
residents in Western Australia's wheatbelt region.
Until scheme water was connected for the first time in 1961,
Corrigin's essential infrastructure included about 50 windmills
and wells supplying water from deep below ground. The proliferation of windmills even encouraged the brand name for the

local flourmill and motel.
During the 1950s growing population and pressure on water supplies forced townspeople to deepen bores, and creating concern
over diminishing supply. But connection to the pipeline from
Mundaring Weir in 1961 appeared to solve all the problems.
Like in so many towns, having unlimited water on tap brought
rapid changes to residents' habits.
Within 10 years only two windmills were still in use, while invisible water tables were rising through the combination of extra
water for lawns and gardens and less drawdown.
By the mid-1990s alarm bells had begun to ring. Waterlogging
was showing up in the south-west of the town; the hotel had to
pump out water from its cellar; and small areas of salt about the

6

size of a dining room table were appearing in the business district
in late summer.
Shire president and local farmer David Abe remembers it well.
"In the early 1990s council organised for a heap of piezometers to
be put down around the town," he says. "By early 1996 they were
indicating that water tables were only 1.5 to 2 metres from the
surface in some places.
"A few of us recognised the problem and we called a public meeting to work out what could be done. A committee was formed
that night, but it was hard to know what to do."
Agriculture Western Australia in Northam provided some help but
it needed a longer-term strategy. When the Western Australian
Government offered to help 13 towns with problems through the
Salinity Action Plan from 1996-97, Corrigin made sure it was one
of the first to raise its hand.
Understanding how to cope with town site salinity has grown substantially since, but many agree it has been a steep learning curve
over the last four years.

Trees, offered as the primary tool, achieved little although some
were planted in the first year, David says. Airborne geophysics
fly-overs also gave little result.


S A L T

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M A G A Z I N E

Left: A water truck
loads up with free
water at the Corrigin
stand pipe - exporting
the problem out of
the town site area and
assisting nearby land
owners.

But appreciating that excess water
Recommendations for treatment
now include a proposal to dehas to be pumped out and used on
water the town site and reinstate
a sufficient scale, is now helping
the water balance much as it was
Corrigin overcome its problems.
before arrival of the scheme water
"Through the Rural Towns
in 1961.

Program, we have installed more
"When Corrigin was the town of
piezometers to monitor water levwindmills, each windmill pumped
els," David says. "We are very forabout 2500 to 5000 litres per day,
tunate that the water is good qualremoving about 170,000 litres or
ity and five bores are now pump170 cubic metres per day for
ing non-stop into a 40,000 gallon
drinking, washing and vegetable
(182,000 litre) tank. Three more
and fruit tree irrigation," Mark
bores will be connected before
Corrigin Shire president and Rural Towns Program
says.
committee member David Abe with one of the production
summer is over."
"But our analysis shows that once
bores
reducing
water
tables
in
the
town.
The water cannot be sold by the
the windmills were removed, the
council, but is available for farmlevel of the aquifer below Corrigin
ers to use for stock use and spraybegan rising at about 0.3 metres per annum.
ing, and for irrigating council and school
It was only a matter of time before problems
ovals. Exporting water from the town is the

began in the lower parts of the town."
ideal option and one which no other town in
Although the total cost of operating and mainWestern Australia has yet achieved.
taining pumping facilities has been estimated
"A major cost is road works," David Abe says.
at $22,000 per year, the potential savings in
■ Excess ground water is being
"Where the watertable is high - within 1.5
purchased water to the community are about
pumped from beneath a town in
metres of the surface - we can't compact the
$38,000 per year at current costs.
the Western Australian Wheatbelt
ground properly and the foundations collapse.
This is making it comparatively easy for
region to manage waterlogging
This is one of the council's biggest costs, but
Corrigin to make the decision to invest in
and reinstate the water balance
one we hope to reduce from now onwards."
groundwater pumping as its best salinity man■ Five bores now pump ground
For the hotel, weekly cellar pumping had
agement option and turn a liability into an
water non-stop into a 182,000 litre
asset.
become a regular part of life. But resurrection
tank for the community to utilise
of an old bore 40 metres away enabled the
• David Abe and Mark Pridham spoke to
owners to forget pumping - until the casing

Georgina Wilson, NDSP Communication
collapsed. Connecting a new bore is now a priCo-ordinator (WA)
ority, but the effects of other bores have helped
unique position of being able to take the

Key points

reduce pumping to every six weeks, even
without the closer one.
Thirty towns in WA are now participating in
the Rural Towns Program administered by
Agriculture Western Australia, under which
costs are shared equally between local councils
and the program.
Program manager Mark Pridham says Corrigin
was one of the lucky towns because of its

source of the problem - excess groundwater and turn it into a resource. This was possible
because of the good quality of the water under
the town and its location away from the flat
valley floors.
During 2000 the economic impacts of salinity
on town site infrastructure were assessed. A
range of control options which included
pumping groundwater were also evaluated.

CONTACT:
■ David Abe, Ph: (08) 9063 2263;
Mark Pridham, Agriculture Western
Australia. Ph: (08) 9368 3919

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Photos: Jo Curkpatrick

PAKENHAM GOLF COURSE

Reclaiming the
greens — naturally

T

he Pakenham and District Golf Club looks
a picture. The greens and fairways are well
covered with grass, the trees are growing
well and the golfers are out in force. As Course
Superintendent Anthony Wright told Victoria's
NDSP Communications Co-ordinator (and
enthusiastic golfer) Jo Curkpatrick, the course
today looks a lot different than it did 10 years
ago.
When the Pakenham course was established back in
1985, it was built on a floodplain covered in

Melaleuca ericafolia. A lot of these trees were
removed to build the golf course, but without a plan
for managing the water, the effects of salinity start-

8

ed to show up very early on. We have tackled the
problem by improving the soil balance to deal with
the high sodium levels in the soil. Our approach has
been to address the problem, not to apply a 'bandaid'.
By getting a good balance in the soil we have been
able to show a big improvement in the cover on the
fairways. With better soils and good grass growth we
have also been able to utilise effluent water in our
irrigation program and that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago.
The inspiration for our approach has been William
Albrecht, an American soil scientist in the 1940s and
50s. Albrecht had taken soil samples around the


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M A G A Z I N E

Left: Pakenham Golf Club
superintendent Anthony
Wright and Kirsten Barker,
salinity officer (DNRE) for

the Port Phillip region, look
over one of the club’s
greens.
Right: The state of the
course before (top) and
after (below) the club’s
extensive restoration work.

world and determined that there was a common thread for fertile soils in terms of the levels of calcium and magnesium in the soil.
We started with a soil that had pH of 2 with
high levels of sodium and sulfur. In earlier
days gypsum was being added but that was
making the problem worse. By meeting
Albrecht's balance for calcium and magnesium
and by adding calcium and potassium, the pH
has improved and we have been able to grow
good grass on the fairways and greens.
Some of trees on the golf course were suffering
from the high salt levels, so we went back to
planting M.ericafolia and swamp gums
(Eucalyptus ovata) and they are doing much
better than trees from outside the area. We
have planted about 4000 trees so far.
We use mostly organic fertilisers and haven't
used insecticides or fertilisers for two years. I
would like to have the first certified completely organic golf course in Australia, but so far
we haven't found a way to control weeds such
as paspalum without herbicides.
Our main fertiliser is chicken litter from an
organic poultry shed nearby. We spread it

annually on the fairways. Soil testing is undertaken once a year on the fairways and quarterly on the greens which allows us to keep a
pretty close watch on fertility levels and tells us
when some intensive treatment is required.
It's not that hard to do and the rewards are
there. We have saved money on insecticides
and fungicides and put the savings back into
fertilisers. It costs about $1000 per fungicide
application and that's a lot of money for a small
club like ours. Besides, by not using insecticides we are noticing that the native birds have
begun to return.
We still have a drainage problem and the
golfers will tell you it gets pretty wet during
winter. But we can't flush or pump out the
excess water because there is no where for it to
go. A quote to re-shape and drain one fairway
is around $75,000 and that is out of our reach.
You can't beat good drainage, but by tackling
the soil chemistry we can make a difference.
We also match our irrigation with evaporation

and tend to err on the side of not enough
water. Kirsten Barker, our local salinity officer
from the Department of Natural Resources and
Environment is keeping an eye on water table
levels. She reports regularly on levels in monitoring bores on the golf course and in the nearby residential area.
We have noticed a fall in the water table, but
with several dry years it is hard to accurately
pin down the reasons. What we do know is
that about 2000 hectares of discharge have
been mapped in the Western Port catchment

and there is sure to be more than what has
already been mapped.
It really hasn't been that difficult or expensive
and the proof is in the pudding. We have a better golf course for our members and in 1999
the Cardinia Shire recognised our efforts with
an Environmental Management Award.

Key points
■ Dryland salinity is evident on the
fairways of an 18-hole community
course located south-east of
Melbourne
■ Average rainfall 790-820mm
■ Salinity problem is being
overcome by improving the soil
balance using organic fertilisers;
irrigating with effluent water and
planting salt tolerant grasses
(Santa Ana Couch), improving turf
conditions significantly

CONTACT:
■ Anthony Wright, Pakenham and District
Golf Club. Ph: (03) 5941 2929

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Home

Groundwater pumping
is proving its worth

A

third of our property
Case study: Robert and Helen Nixon
had the potential to go
and family
saline and now after
Location:
Kalannie, WA
more than five years of pumpArea: 7000 ha
ing, we have turned the corner
and are progressively reclaimAverage Rainfall: 300 mm
ing about 200 hectares.
Enterprise: grain and sheep
Here at Kalannie, my father and
uncle saw the first signs of salinity
in the 1960s after land clearing
began in 1925. In the early 1960s they were We must use the appropriate mix of land renosuggesting that pumping with windmills would vation weapons in the war against salt.
be necessary. But it's only in the last five or six Drainage is essential in our valley floors where
years that we've really got into pumping seri- there is a huge volume of groundwater that is
more saline than sea water.
ously, although we've tried other treatments.

10

Oil mallees and lucerne are
used in the valley slopes to
extract perched groundwater,
but in the valley floors, pumping is the engineering solution
used to extract the more saline
water.
In 1994 I was talking to
Ramsis Salama from CSIRO
about their salinity research,
and he recommended I do a
cost-benefit analysis as a starting point. We
tried to get funding from many places, but
although we were short-listed a few times, we
were never successful.


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M A G A Z I N E

Left: Colin Walker
from Murdoch
University downloads
meteorological data
near proposed
evaporation ponds.

We gained assistance from Colin Walker
at Murdoch University and established a
self-funded research and development
project. Farmers like us with salinity
problems on land in the lower valley
floors are very frustrated that there is no
public money for engineering solutions.
This is usually our prime land - the
champagne country.
How much of my property was affected
is hard to tell. Salt on valley floors is
insidious. Only a small percentage of
the land is totally lost, but much larger
areas lose fertility and capacity for production as the water tables rise. For the
research project we installed the first
extraction and monitoring bores in
1995 and began pumping once
approvals had been granted.
About a third of our time and considerRobert Nixon logging one of the 50 boreholes
able investment has occurred over five
years. Altogether we installed 52
groundwater monitoring bores, three
have been bunded (given retaining banks) to
water extraction bores and more than 10 km of provide evaporation and crystalliser ponds for
water lines.
salt production.
We had a long-term plan to acquire land with We planned to harvest salt, but this has been
salt lakes for disposal of the water. Saline water very limited due to unexpected rain in the last
is pumped 5 km to these lakes, some of which two summers. We had four inches of rain dur-

Key points
■ Pumping is pegging back water
tables in WA
■ Cost-benefit analysis has
ensured economics of Landcare
activity
■ Land reclaimed, increased
production and saleable salt

ing January making it impossible over this
period. In February you would normally
expect the place to look completely brown, but
in fact it is green.
The three production bores yield 450,000 litres
a day all year round. The main costs now are
electricity and maintenance on the system as
we continue pumping. People in this area are
very conscious of Landcare. My neighbours
and the LCDC have been very helpful and supportive. Richard George and others from
Agriculture Western Australia have been a
sounding board for ideas, and various groups
have visited the project.
The highlight for us has been the effects near
the homestead. You can see it in the native

on his Kalannie, WA, property.

vegetation 500 to 800 metres from the first production bore. As the salt encroached, the
canopy of the trees became stunted with lots of

dead wood. Now the canopies are rising progressively through the dead wood branches.
When you start drainage work like this on a
problem that has developed over 75 years,
changes won't happen overnight. First, you
have to stop it getting any worse and then begin
to peg it back.
Reversing the effects of half a century is going
to take more than a couple of years, but we
have certainly made a start.
• Robert Nixon spoke with Georgina Wilson,
NDSP Communication Co-ordinator (WA)

CONTACT:
■ Georgina Wilson,
Agriculture Western Australia.
Ph: (08) 9368 3889 Fax: (08) 9474 2018
E-mail:

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11


Home

Making the most
of saline ground
Case study: Malcolm Schaefer

Location: Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Area: 1200 ha with a further 400 ha leased
Average Rainfall: 550 mm
Enterprises: Wool, prime lambs, oats and vetch

S

Serradela on a non-wetting sandy rise treated with clay.

12

alt has always been evident in these parts of
Kangaroo Island, which is hardly surprising
since we are only a few kilometres from the
Southern Ocean.
Clearing commenced on our property in 1904 and
continued up until about 1950, even though some
parts of the land were obviously salt affected. I
remember my father saying that the land almost
asked to be cleared because the main vegetation type
was tea-tree which was very easy to clear.
I realised that the salinity problem was getting dramatically worse in 1984 after a very wet year. That
was when I started a small program of planting salttolerant grasses and trees on affected areas. In those
days, with not much experience to fall back on, it
took several years to thicken up the grasses and most
of the trees (which cost $2 each) were eaten by kangaroos. Another wet year in 1992 saw the salt spread
even further, many more old trees died and I could
see that the problem had now become urgent.
About one third of my land is salt affected, another
third is non-wetting sand and the remainder is good

cropping land. Because I am at the landlocked bottom of a large groundwater system, there is not a
great deal I can do about lowering the watertable. I
can probably protect assets like dams with targeted
local revegetation, but I also need to protect the land
that is not salt-affected and live productively with the
land that is.
A major breakthrough occurred when I attended a
local Landcare conference in 1994 and saw the
opportunities for direct seeding of native vegetation.
Not only can large areas be sown quickly, the 'roos
don't seem to find this as attractive as the tubestock.
As my farm is bounded on three sides by native vegetation I have an abundant seed source as well as an
abundance of kangaroos.
Preparation for direct seeding consists of spraying
700 mm wide strips with glyphosate in June and then
again about five weeks later to kill the second germination of weeds. Seeding is done in August, but germination seems to be staggered over the next 12
months depending on the weather conditions, so it
does not really matter much if we have a dry spring
and there is not much to show for awhile.


S A L T

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M A G A Z I N E

Dundas tall wheat grass in the middle ground with puccinellia in front and behind.

In 1995, I visited the Upper South-East region

of SA to look at clay spreading to overcome
non-wetting sands. While I was there I also
saw the dramatic impact of fertiliser on salt
tolerant pastures. Their swards were much
more productive than I was used to, and by
sowing tall wheat grass and puccinellia separately they were also able to reap their own
seed.
After a number of small trials and having seen
the results in the Upper South East, I have
now developed a good system for establishing
puccinellia and tall wheat grass:
• Spray top in spring to remove barley grass
• Three weeks after the opening rain, spray
with glyphosate at 800 ml/ha
• Scarify, then sow pasture seed at 8-10 kg/ha
through a combine, just dropping the seed
on the surface and covering with combine
harrows
• Fertilise with 60 kg/ha plain super and spray
for red legged earth mite
• Lightly roll, mainly to prepare the paddock
for seed harvesting
• Because our land has such light relief I put in
shallow surface drains to minimise waterlogging
• In late August I apply urea at 50 kg/ha.
I am now using the new pasture variety
Dundas tall wheat grass which seems to have a
much better growth habit, being far less
'clumpy' than the traditional variety Tyrell.
In March I can reap both the puccinellia and

the tall wheat grass so that I am pretty well self
sufficient in seed even as I expand my planting. The reaped paddocks provide excellent
clean grazing for drenched sheep as they have

Key points
■ There are real opportunities to
use saline land productively
■ Managing saline land
productively is relatively 'new
territory'
■ There is much to be learned from
others who are also dealing with
salinity on farms

not been grazed since the previous September.
So far I have established about 60 hectares and
I have spraytopped a further 120 ha to be
sown this year, reflecting the confidence I now
have in the system. This program has been
accelerated because we have temporarily destocked the home farm whilst Ovine Johne's
Disease is being eradicated.
Last year I did some trial work spreading clay
on non-wetting sands. With technical support
from PIRSA staff at Kingscote I have trialled
several rates of clay ranging from 50 to
200 t/ha and five different pasture species:
veldt grass, serradella, biserrula and two varieties of lucerne. Each established quite well,
with the serradela (a very acid-tolerant
legume) producing a great amount of bulk.
Given that these sands are usually bare, erodable and significant sources of recharge, it will

Photos: Bruce Munday

be a real step forward if I can get good productive growth there. This year I will be sowing 40 ha of lucerne on non-wetting sands that
have been ameliorated with clay.
The other resource I am really keen to protect
is my surface water. Even on the relatively elevated land I have dams which have 'gone salty'
as a result of surface salt appearing in the
drainage lines.
By fencing off a couple of hundred metres
leading into the dam and planting trees and
shrubs I have been able to keep this local salt
down. A dam which registered 13,000 mg/l at
the end of summer before planting now has a
salinity of 8500 mg/l at the same time of the
year.
Over the years I have learned a lot about managing salt and I am now confident that I am
working towards a pretty good system. Lots of
trial and error, looking at what others are
doing, support from PIRSA staff and NHT
incentive payments have all helped to get me
to a situation where I can manage my saline
land productively and protect my good land.
• Malcolm Schaefer spoke with Bruce Munday,
NDSP Communication Co-ordinator (SA)

CONTACT:
■ Bruce Munday, Clear Connections.
Ph: (08) 8538 7075 Fax: (08) 8538 7075
E-mail:

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Home

How much does the crop leak?

M

ost farmers are aware that annual crops 'leak', contributing water
to rising groundwater systems.
However, this leakage has been difficult to
measure without sophisticated equipment.
This is about to change and grain growers
will soon be able to monitor the moisture
that drains past the root zone of shallowrooted crops and other crops and pastures.
Dr Paul Hutchison, CSIRO Land & Water,
explains: The breakthrough in soil moisture
measurement is a simple drainage meter which
we have developed with support from growers
and the Federal Government through the
GRDC.
The information gained will be very valuable
on two fronts - it will show if a farming system
is 'leaky' but also whether a deeper-rooted

plant can be sown to take advantage of the
moisture at depth.
More and more farmers are looking to turn
moisture at depth into profit by sowing for
example, a vigorous perennial pasture such as
lucerne and using it for prime lamb production, or growing summer-active crops such as
sorghum and millet.
The drainage meter has two versions - one
costing about $600 for research purposes and
a cheaper version, about $300, for use by
farmers and extension personnel.
A schematic of the research version is shown in
Figure 1. The instrument consists of a long
open-topped tube (1) that is filled with silica

escape so a water table forms. Changes in the
powder. At the base of the tube there is a caviwater table height are measured with the presty (6) that is separated from the silica by a fine
sure transducer and recorded with a data logmesh (5). This cavity is connected to the surger at the soil surface.
face via a drain tube (3) and vent tube (2). At
In the manual version of the
the base of the cavity is a
drainage meter currently
differential pressure sensor
under development, the
(7) that is connected to the
pressure transducer will be
surface via a cable (4).
replaced by a dipstick to
The meter is installed by
reduce the cost. A hollow,

first auguring a five-cenporous ceramic rod also
timetre diameter hole (8) to
replaces the silica powder.
a depth equal to the height
When a measurement of
of the meter (1.4 metres)
deep drainage is required
plus the distance below the
the dipstick is removed from
soil surface where the
the hollow rod by pulling on
measurement is required.
a cable from the surface. The
In the case of wheat where
height of the water table is
roots are generally in the
then recorded and the diptop 1 m, the hole is drilled
stick replaced. Installation of
to a depth of about 2.5 m.
the dipstick model is the
The hole is then widened
Figure 1: Annual crop
same as for the research verto 10 cm from the surface
'leakage' is being
sion.
to a depth of the measuremeasured using new, costBy measuring the water table
ment height plus 20 cm.
effective technology.
two or three times from
The meter is then installed

autumn to spring, you know
and a heavy clay (8) is
whether drainage is occurpacked below the top of
ring and whether to change a rotation to say,
the meter to prevent entry of water. Next a silinclude lucerne. Where long fallows may be
ica tip (9) is packed followed by a further layer
contributing to recharge, this can also be measof heavy clay (10). The final material packed
ured and a farmer would know if he has to
into the hole is topsoil (11).
swing back into cropping as soon as possible.
As moisture moves past the silica tip, it is
Early results are showing that the drainage
drawn by capillary action through the silica
meter can measure soil moisture as well as a
powder into the tube. The moisture cannot

Lucerne a profitable switch

F

armers in Western Australia continue
to turn to lucerne for its versatility in
high water use farming systems.
Just how versatile and profitable it can be was
portrayed at the recent Lucerne 2000
Symposium, held in Katanning in the southeast of the State with support from the Federal
Government and graingrowers through
the Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC).
Growers from various parts of the Wheatbelt

shared their experiences and painted an
impressive picture for the role the deep rooted
perennial legume can play as a profitable rotation tool for lowering watertables.
After a trip to Montana, USA, to study lucerne,
Dumbleyung farmer Jeff Patterson is convinced
the perennial will take him a step closer to his
goal of sustainable, profitable farming.
"My experience has strengthened my resolve to
direct Landcare away from potentially damag-

14

the 1970s to use summer rain
ing drainage schemes and
and supplement sheep feed, an
focus, instead, on high water
emerging salinity problem
use sustainable farming," he
prompted him to turn to lucerne
says.
for broadacre watertable control
With a lucerne-based pasture
- and it has succeeded.
doing its work on the
Annually sowing 200 hectares,
watertable, Jeff hopes to
with 800ha of the property curreduce the dependence he has
rently planted, he has developed
on his cropping enterprise,
a fine-tuned lucerne establishwhich currently generates 80

ment and management system
per cent of the farm's income.
that has boosted the efficiency of
To do that, he plans to devote
Bill Fraser, pictured
both the cropping and livestock
half the property to lucerne
at his Quairading
enterprises.
within the next two years,
farm during a recent
"We've made some changes to
using it as a four-year pasture
GRDC salinity tour.
accommodate lucerne, such as
phase in an eight-year cropmoving from set stocking to rotaping rotation.
tional grazing so we can spell it for five to six
Jerramungup farmer Geoff Bee already has
weeks recovery," Geoff says.
'runs on the board' when it comes to success
"We've also increased the size of the sheep
with lucerne.
mobs, so we can adequately stock paddocks,
After originally planting small hobby blocks in


S A L T

Home

Paul Hutchison (right) demonstrates the drainage meter near Harden, NSW.

much more complex and expensive mercury
tensiometer. The drainage meter can be completely buried below the cultivation layer and
needs no maintenance, compared with a tensiometer which sticks up in the paddock and
needs regular attention.
We expect that growers will find this a particularly useful and practical tool. It is very difficult to improve the water use of farming systems unless you know how it responds to management practices. This tool removes the
guesswork.
One landowner group particularly interested
in drainage is the Harden-Murrumburrah
Landcare Group in southern NSW. Last year
one of the research versions of drainage meters
was installed in a paddock in the area where
the group and CSIRO has, for some time, been
conducting tillage treatments. In this case,
measurements were made of drainage under a
wheat crop grown on two different treatments

- one where stubble has been burnt and the
soil cultivated and the other where conservation farming techniques are practiced, including stubble retention.
During the 2000 growing season about 30 mm
of drainage was recorded in the 'burn and cultivate' treatment, and 100 mm in the 'conservation farming' treatment. We attribute the
three-fold difference to a number of causes
including the fact that the surface soil in the
burn and cultivate treatment has become
sealed and some of the water runs off rather
than into the soil. This is not the case in the
stubble retention treatment where the soil is
also better structured facilitating water movement.
The co-ordinator of the HardenMurrumburrah Landcare Group, Louise

Hufton, says: Landowners in this 250 member group are particularly interested in finding

M A G A Z I N E

out what farming systems contribute more
than others to deep drainage.
About three per cent of the land in the Jugiong
Creek Catchment, in which the group operates, is affected by salinity in lesser or greater
degrees and the area of salinised land is
increasing. We want to install a series of meters
across the catchment to test as many variables
as possible.
Is there more leakage under wheat than there
is under, say, canola, lucerne, perennial pastures or annual pastures? We want to also
know the effect of vegetation adjacent to a crop
on drainage. It's all about finding systems that
use available water, reduce salinity and
increase production so perhaps there is scope
for more lucerne in farming systems, for alley
farming, or for crops that use more water in
winter.
• Based on an article by Bruce Munday in the
January 2001 edition of 'Focus on Salt' and
subsequent interviews with CSIRO Land and
Water scientist, Paul Hutchinson, and the
co-ordinator of the Harden-Murrumburrah
Landcare Group, Louise Hufton, by GRDC
communicator, Denys Slee

CONTACT:

■ Paul Hutchinson , CSIRO Land and
Water. Ph: (02) 6960 1558
Louise Hufton, Harden-Murrumburrah
Landcare. Ph: (02) 6386 8218

for groundwater management
and have moved from short rotations to a
phased rotation".
After some testing early experience establishing lucerne, Central Wheatbelt farmer Bill
Fraser, Quairading, has persisted and now
intends using it as the base for all his pastures.
He sees lucerne as a way to solve rising
watertable problems, while being able to produce more and higher quality wool, meat, barley and wheat, all at lower costs.
Bill began to invest in lucerne in 1998, when
he set up his seeding bar to establish lucerne
with cereals on an intermittent row system one lucerne row, one cereal row and one
lucerne, for example.
"Our thinking was, and still is, that with financial constraints we could not forego a year's
production to establish lucerne over the large
areas necessary to have an impact on watertables and salt," he says.
While lucerne has helped increase productivi-

ty of many grain, wool and meat enterprises,
improving meat production is the clear focus
of Kojonup farmer and consultant John Young.
Having implemented the simulation model
MIDAS (Model of Integrated Dryland
Agricultural Systems), John believes it is the
meat side of the enterprise that will reap him
the highest reward from lucerne.

Results from his analysis indicate grazing
lucerne for a prime lamb flock increased profits by $75 for each hectare grown, compared to
an increase of only $32/ha for wool production.
"We now plan to increase the lucerne area to
about 20 pc of the farm, and believe with correct management, we can effectively fatten
sheep on it," he said.
Professor of Agriculture at the University of
WA, Phil Cocks, said lucerne could play a far
more significant role in combating WA's $190
million worth of production lost each year

from waterlogging and the additional $40 million from the related salinity problem.
Opening the Lucerne 2000 Symposium, said
he was confident lucerne could control and
manage rising water tables, while maintaining
agricultural production, over at least two million hectares in WA.
The proportion of the remaining 10 to 12 million hectares which is suitable to lucerne is as
yet unknown, he says. Professor Cocks says a
well managed lucerne pasture, with its deep
roots, used more water than a well managed
annual pasture and increased out of season
pasture production.
"Our research shows that lucerne will also
accumulate similar soil nitrogen and produce
at least similar grain yields and protein in the
following crop as annual pastures would do,"
he says. "The challenge now is to reduce losses
in the lucerne establishment year, by developing successful cover cropping techniques."
• Story and photo by Brendon Cant

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Home

PREVENTION

Retaining vegetation
to discourage salinity
in Queensland

L

Photo: CSIRO Land & Water

Retention of significant tree cover serves as long-term protection against
dryland salinity. In cleared areas at risk of dryland salinity, alternative crops such
as this plantation of Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) at Mutchilba in
Queensland can provide profitable solutions for managing the salinity risk.
Researchers with the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines
continue to develop salinity risk assessments across the State. Risk assessments
raise awareness about potential problems and indicate areas where changes to
current practices are necessary to prevent or limit the development of salinity.

16

andholders are being encouraged to
retain native vegetation in key parts
of the Queensland landscape to
lessen the chances of developing long-term
salinity problems.
Queensland Department of Natural Resources
and Mines senior soil scientist, Ian Gordon,
says preliminary investigations indicate that
hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland
in Queensland were potentially at risk of salinity degradation in the next 30 years. However,
some areas might take 100 years to be salt
affected.
This includes 600,000 ha recently identified as
"at risk" in the Murray Darling Basin within
Queensland.
"It is a bit like the risk of getting skin cancer.
Prevention is far wiser than merely covering
up when the spots appear," Ian says.
"The retention of significant tree cover serves
as long-term protection against dryland salinity. Risk maps being compiled by DNR scientists show we need to take action now.
"Ten years ago DNR extension officers estimated that salinity severely affected 10,000 ha and
about 75,000 ha was at risk.
"Today the area at risk has blown out to more
than 500,000 ha in the Queensland section of
the Murray Darling Basin alone. An additional
and more critical concern is the potential
impact of salinity on water quality in our river
systems."
Ian says land was considered at risk of dryland
salinity if the removal of vegetation was likely

to raise water tables to within two metres of
the surface without necessarily converting it to
severely salt-affected land.
Evidence of salinity outbreaks was expected in
up to 30 per cent of the area identified as 'at
risk'.
In addition to impacts on land and productivity, the other effects of salinity included salinity levels in rivers and groundwater supplies,


S A L T

Home

M A G A Z I N E

Photos: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines

Queensland Department of Natural Resources and
Mines soil scientist (salinity), Rachael Zischke,
Indooroopilly, gathers information at a salt scald
which has killed grass and gum trees near St George.

damage to infrastructure such as buildings, water supplies and roads, and
ecosystems dependant on fresh water
supplies.
Ian says DNR scientists based at the
Department's Resource Sciences and
Knowledge, Indooroopilly, will provide
estimates on salinity risk for catchments
in southern Queensland as a component of the National Land and Water

Audit by mid-June this year.
On-going work would refine the preliminary estimates of salinity incorporated in the Murray Darling Basin
Catchment Salinity Audit report completed in October last year.
In addition, salinity risk assessments for
other parts of the State would be revised
in parallel with this work.
"Risk maps are expressed in terms of the
potential for land use changes, notably
tree clearing, to turn this risk into an
environmental problem," he says.
"Scientists are investigating to what
extent change in land use will turn a
high risk catchment into a long-term
problem."
Ian says as with the skin cancer analogy,
science had discovered at least a 30-year
delay in catchments responding to tree
clearing.
"Thirty years is a relatively quick
response in hydro-geological terms but
catchments with even longer responses
offer the real opportunity for the introduction of preventative actions," he
says.
"The fact that Queensland has many
catchments with heavy clay soils and
summer dominant rainfall means the
response time may take hundreds of
years to show salinity degradation fol-

lowing a change in land use."

The rise of salinity was symptomatic of
current land use practices that had
replaced natural systems, he said.
"The resulting massive hydrological
imbalance may take several hundred
years to stabilise," he says.
"Dryland salinity is a result of rising
water tables driven by the additional
water moving beneath cropping and
grazing systems compared to uncleared
areas."
Ian says deep drainage was a lost opportunity to produce crops and pastures
because the additional water had moved
below the root zone of agricultural
crops.
Recent studies on the impact of land use
change on salinity had been undertaken
in the Queensland Murray Darling
Basin catchments and programs were
being developed to fast track recharge
and salinity studies across the state.
"DNR will begin these studies in areas
where vegetation clearing issues are of
most immediate concern, which include
the brigalow belt, mulga woodlands and
desert uplands," he says.
"This is a broad risk assessment utilising
geographic information systems (GIS)
technology and will provide information at the catchment level. Further
assessment will be needed to provide

information for property level decisionmaking."
Ian says risk assessments raised awareness about potential problems and indicated areas where changes to current
practices would be necessary to prevent
or limit the development of salinity.
• Ian Gordon spoke with John Sanderson.

The rise of salinity in Queensland, such as this
salt-affected area in the Boonah district, is
symptomatic of current land use practices that
have replaced natural systems.

Key points
■ The area at risk of salinity in the
Queensland section of the
Murray-Darling basin is now
estimated to be more than
500,000 ha
■ Queensland catchments with
heavy clay soils and summer
dominant rainfall may take
hundreds of years to show salinity
degradation following a change
in land use
■ Risk assessment studies are
being undertaken at catchment
level to determine the impact of
land clearing on salinity,
particularly in the brigalow belt,
mulga woodlands and desert
uplands

CONTACT:
■ Ian Gordon. QDNR. Ph: (07) 3896 9471

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Home

C

apella is 300 kilometres west of
Rockhampton and 800 km northwest of Brisbane. Located on the
edge of the Central Highlands, soils vary
from gently undulating plains formed on
tertiary basalt shales or sandstone. Grasses
vary from Queensland bluegrass, black
speargrass, barley grass, some Mitchell and
Flinders grasses.
Thanks to strategic revegetation and adoption of new farming technologies local
landholders
Murray
and
Trish
Brimblecombe have largely beaten a salinity problem, however it didn't seem that
way back in 1985.

At first we were a bit startled when one of the
cultivations on our 3100 hectare property
developed a bare patch where crops refused to
grow.
No other landholders around here had heard
of salinity problems of this extent.
At the start the degraded patch was the size of
two four-wheel drive vehicles however over
about three years it grew to about two hectares.
We contacted Ken Dixon, Soil Conservation
Officer, and Bill Wilkinson, Senior Project
Officer, Department of Natural Resources and
Mines, DNR, Emerald, 100 kilometres south of
here, and they did some soil tests and identified it as a salinity problem.
Previously black tea tree had been growing in
the area.
It wasn't long before surface water began seeping out of the ground. It looked brackish and
had a salty taste.
DNR oversaw a tree planting operation on
mounds of soil, because nothing would grow
in the salt laden black soil.
In 1991, approximately 1000 trees, mostly salt
tolerant, were planted in 40 cm high mounds
of soil, pushed up at five-metre intervals on the
contour. The young plants were mulched and
watered regularly. At the time Queensland was
entering a severe drought.
This allowed rainfall to leach the salts out of
the surface soil, permitting native grasses and
young trees to re-establish. Slowly but surely

the water table began to recede.
Native grasses began to grow back of their own
accord and today we have good ground cover
and a healthy plot of trees, many of them

18

RE-VEGETATION

Targeted trees
keep salinity at bay
Case study: Murray and Trish
Brimblecombe
Location: Capella, Qld (300 km west
of Rockhampton)
Area: 3100 ha
Enterprises: Livestock and cropping

above seven metres in height. My experience
sends the message to all Australian landholders, that no matter what your location, you
have to be awake to the signs of salinity, high
water tables and subsequent management that
is required.
This experience has made my wife Trish and
myself more aware of natural resource management and our property has had several
groups visit for workshop and field day purposes. Before the salinity experience we were
leaning towards stubble mulch farming and
starting to zero-till with our cultivations.
Now all our country is contoured and zero
tilled as much as possible.

We have been mindful of leaving stands of vegetation for rocky outcrops, to shade our livestock and shelter wildlife.
DNR saw it as a good opportunity to test the
effectiveness of planting a variety of trees to

lower the watertable. On a cautionary note,
Ken Dixon says saline seepage areas in the
Central Highlands, which may have dried up
in recent years, could reappear if prolonged
wet conditions occur.
Seepage areas can be caused by clearing upper
catchments or areas of black tea tree, which
generally indicate a high watertable.
DNR has found that occasionally, as in our case
at Capella, seepage can occur when geological
reasons prevent water from moving downwards and force it to move sideways, through
the soil profile, sometimes to the surface.
A variety of trees were planted to gauge their
effectiveness at lowering the water table.
The trees were healthy and had achieved consistently high growth rates. River red gum had
an 80 per cent survival rate, compared to
coolibah 69 pc, blackbutt 58 pc, Queensland
white gum 60 pc, tipuana 38 pc and yapunya


S A L T

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16 pc. After seven and a half years the blackbutt
reached the greatest average height at 9.1 metres

whereas the tipuana averaged out at 3.2 m.
There was no evidence of salt damage. Initially
some people believed the trees would eventually
kill themselves by concentrating salts in the root
zone but this hasn't happened.
Most tree deaths occurred at the seedling stage
soon after planting. There have been very few
deaths in the last seven years. Monitoring of both
trees and soil is continuing.
Chloride levels of the surface soil have dropped
by an average of 95 pc in both the mounded and
inter-row areas. The watertable has dropped
allowing rainfall to leach salts lower into the soil
profile enabling the return of native grasses such
as bluegrass, wiregrass and windmill grass.
The seepage area has stopped spreading but high
chloride levels below 50 cm suggest that if the
trees were removed, the salinity outbreak would
re-occur.
• Murray and Trish Brimblecombe spoke with John
Sanderson

CONTACT:
■ Ken Dixon, QDNR. Ph: (07) 4987 9321

Key points
■ A targeted revegetation program
and adoption of no-till farming
practices are being used to
manage a salinity problem near

Capella, Qld
■ Chloride levels of the surface soil
near the saline area have
dropped by an average of 95pc
in both the mounded and
inter-row areas of revegetation
■ A lowered watertable has
enabled the return of native
grasses such as bluegrass,
wiregrass and windmill grass

Education is crucial
to beating salt problem

Photo: John Sanderson

Left: With the assistance of Ken
Dixon, Soil Conservationist,
Queensland Department of Natural
Resources, Emerald (right), Murray
Brimblecombe, 'Mt Lowe', Capella,
has largely eliminated his salinity
problem.

M A G A Z I N E

Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines technical officer
(Groundwater Hydrology), Ashley Bleakley, Ipswich, inspects salt-encrusted
soil in the Lockyer Valley with University of Queensland Gatton students Amy
Kingston, Ipswich, (left) and Alison Rodgers, Toowoomba. A salt scald, visible

in the background, has killed off all of the vegetation.

L

ockyer Catchment Co-ordinator
Andrew Davidson says the
Lockyer region has been identified
as a target catchment under the recently
announced National Action Plan for
Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ).
Only a small percentage of the Lockyer
Catchment in south-east Queensland is
directly affected by salt, however the potential exists for a greater impact. Lockyer
Catchment contains large areas of marine
sediments harbouring a significant salt
load.
Landcare and Catchment Groups have long
recognised the potential problem and
worked with the community to raise awareness and coordinate positive actions to
manage salinity.
Revegetation of the upland areas with deeprooted annuals and sustainable management of irrigation water have been priority
actions.
The management of the large areas of existing vegetation in the uplands is also important. Support and incentives for landholders to maintain these valuable areas of
native vegetation have been the focus of
much activity and lobbying by Landcare
and catchment groups.
The Lockyer Watershed Management
Association - Lockyer Landcare (LWMA)
has also been very successful over the past

20 years in rehabilitating a number of the
areas already affected by salt.
It has produced fact sheets that not only
describe management practices and ‘best
bet’ species for rehabilitation but also
describe the land management practices
that lead to salinity. The sites are used to
show landholders and visitors the damage
salt can as well as the positive actions that
can be taken to reclaim salty areas.
The Lockyer Catchment Co-ordinating
Committee (LCCC) is now in the process of
developing a salinity management plan for
the catchment as a lead up to the NAPSWQ. The LCCC has long promoted sustainable land use through land use planning handbooks and by closely working
with councils to incorporate integrated
catchment management into planning
schemes.
This lead role by Landcare and catchment
groups in partnership with the community,
government and industry is set to continue
under the NAPSWQ.
• Andrew Davidson spoke with John Sanderson

CONTACT:
■ Andrew Davidson, Lockyer Catchment
Co-ordinator. Ph: (07) 5465 4822

T h e M a g a z i n e o f A u s t r a l i a ’s N a t i o n a l D r y l a n d S a l i n i t y P ro g r a m

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ALTERNATIVES

Future landscapes
to fight salinity

I

Photos: CSIRO Land and Water

Agroforestry potential: native forest near Pemberton, WA.

n the future when you travel through rural Australia,
the scenery might look rather different. The landscape of tomorrow is likely to be more leafy, shady
and biodiverse and what is more, this peaceful countryside might also be our greatest weapon in the fight
against the threat of rising salinity.
Land management techniques to combat salinity, both current and future, are presented in a new publication produced by CSIRO Land and Water to help farmers and land
managers in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The report, A Revolution in Land Use: Emerging Land Use
Systems for Managing Dryland Salinity, discusses a range of
techniques including phase farming, companion farming,
new crops, perennial pastures, tree crops in high and low
rainfall areas, agroforestry and saltland farming.
Dr John Williams, Deputy Chief of CSIRO Land and Water
and one of the authors of the publication, says that the goal

is to limit water leakage past the root zone to a level something like that of the native vegetation. This requires a big
change in land use: a new landscape made up of a mosaic
of commercial tree crops, mixed perennial-annual cropping
systems and areas of native vegetation.
New rural industries that use perennial plants and trees,
many of them Australian natives, can be developed to fight
salinity. As well as controlling the effects of salinity, these
verdant future landscapes will help to protect Australia's
biodiversity. But before this vision can be realised, much
more research is needed to develop suitable plant varieties
and cultivate markets for their products.
Fortunately, farmers don't have to wait to begin the process
of land use change.
"The good news from this report is that we've got a few
things we can run with, now," says Dr Williams. "And we've
got a host of promising options we can test out for the
future."
"The take-home message is: the techniques we have for
fighting salinity are inadequate, but some encouraging land
use options are emerging that warrant research, development and large scale testing."
• For a copy of this report contact CSIRO Land & Water

CONTACT:
■ Richard Stirzaker, CSIRO Land and
Water. Ph: (02) 6246 5570

■ Leanne Dempsey, Ph: (02) 6246 5717;
The unacceptable alternative: saline area at
Tharbogang (near Griffith) NSW.

20

e-mail:

■ Marg Bryant, Ph: (08) 9333 6215;
e-mail:


S A L T

Home

M A G A Z I N E

Future landscapes: take your pick
Current options and future
prospects for managing dryland
salinity:

Annual cropping
This is the preferred economic
option, but it is ineffective in
attaining leakage targets except
in a small proportion of the
Murray-Darling Basin. There is
little opportunity to reduce the
leakage by the magnitude
required.

beneath the root zone.

However phase farming,
companion farming and
agroforestry practices that
reduce leakage are
in harmony with the organic
philosophy and are therefore
more likely to be adopted.

High rainfall tree
products
These products are effective
in reducing leakage, and
profitable, but their proven
potential is currently limited
to a small proportion of the
Basin.

Saltland farming: sheep grazing on a saltbush
and grass pasture near Deniliquin, NSW.
Rotations of winter and summer
crops that are sensitive to water
conditions of soil make a useful
contribution in those parts of the Basin with significant
Low rainfall tree products
summer rainfall. Opportunity cropping is a relatively
While this is potentially the most effective land-use
mature area in research agronomy. An applied research
option for managing salinity by reducing leakage, it is
effort over the next five to 10 years on suitable
not commercially viable due to a lack of markets to drive

crop/soil/rainfall combinations could yield improved
reforestation and/or re-vegetation at the necessary scale.
systems in terms of salinity control and profitability.
A very significant, well-focused research effort over the
next 30 years will be essential to develop: new markets;
tree crops to produce fruits, nuts, oils, pharmaceuticals;
Phase farming
bush foods; and forestry products including specialty
This is effective when the lucerne phase is long enough
timbers, charcoal, carbon credits and
to dry the subsoil and the cropping
bio-mass energy applications.
phase
is terminated before leakage
recommences. Reductions in
Agroforestry
leakage of between 50 per cent
Agroforestry can be more profitable
and 70 pc are associated with
than tree crops alone, but its
reduced profitability. This is a
effectiveness depends on the proportion
mature area of agronomic research
planted to trees, and on the skill of
and systems are well advanced and
locating trees in the right parts of the
available. Research over the next
landscape. Further research is needed to
five years should overcome
determine which tree/crop/pasture

dependence on lucerne and finemixtures can reduce leakage to
tune the application of phase
acceptable levels and continue to give
farming to improve profitability and
economic return. It will build on and
drainage outcomes.
benefit from work essential to the
development of commercial tree crops
Companion farming
and new agricultural plants.
Over-sowing annual cereals into
perennial forages/pastures holds
Perennial pastures
promise of significantly reducing
Perennial pastures leak less water
leakage beneath the root zone.
beneath the root zone than annuals, but
Research is needed over at least 5higher rainfall, winter dominance, acid
10 years on species and agronomic
and shallow soils, and grazing pressure
practice to provide viable systems.
all compromise their potential across the
southern half of the Basin. Research and
New agricultural plants
development should focus on
Some potential exists to select or
ameliorating subsoil and on deeper
Opportunity cropping: wheat crop
breed long season, perennial
rooting species.

growing where rice grew previously
and/or deep-rooted cultivars of
in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation
current crop and fodder plants that
Saltland farming
Area, near Griffith, NSW.
may substantially reduce deep
Saltland farming allows for soil

Opportunity cropping

drainage, and to fit these plants
into new farming systems. This will
require a substantial and well-focused research effort
over the next five to 25 years.

Organic farming
While the demand for organic produce is growing in the
marketplace, organic farming is not necessarily any more
effective than annual cropping in controlling leakage

stabilisation and provision of stock feed
but makes little long-term contribution
to managing the watertable, reducing salt loads to rivers
and therefore to water quality.
Identifying species and management practices that make
best use of such land is important because of the huge
areas that will be affected by salt, but the impact of this
research on controlling land and river salinisation will be
relatively small.

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21


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Airborne geophysics:
why and where?

A

irborne geophysics is being billed
by some as a 'magic bullet' for
salinity - new technology that
may become an important tool for many
land managers. But what exactly is it and
how useful is it likely to be? Jo
Curkpatrick fills in the background and
notes some words of caution from Western
Australian experience.
In April 2001 the Commonwealth-funded
Airborne Geophysics Survey, marketed as the
'Ultra Sound of the Earth', will begin in two
selected catchments in Western Australia,
later extending to other States. This is part of
the National Action Plan on Salinity and

Water Quality.
Airborne geophysics for agriculture is a
recent spin-off from the mineral exploration
industry and features three main components
- magnetics, radiometrics and electromagnetics.
Magnetics measures variations in the earth's
magnetic field and can provide a picture of
the geology of an area. Radiometrics, which
measures the products of radioactive decay of
naturally occurring minerals in the surface
soil, can be used to help delineate soil types.
Electromagnetics essentially measures the

22

electrical conductivity of layers of soil and
weathered rock. Of the three, electromagnetics (EM) appears most directly valuable for
salinity because of its potential to measure
salt store beneath the surface and locate
underground streams, known as palaeochannels.
The technology involves a wire cable connected to the outside of an aircraft (aeroplane
or helicopter) which 'pulses' an electric field
into the ground below. This induces a secondary current in the ground and the
strength of this current - and the time it takes
to decay - are monitored by a sensor behind
the plane. Interpretation of these signals
enables depth and conductivity of saline areas
to be measured.
Because of the height of the aeroplane and a
line spacing of 200 to 400 metres the resolution of mapping is relatively low compared

with that from ground based EM systems,
such as those carried on motorbikes - a survey unit familiar to many landholders. The
data require skilful interpretation in conjunction with other information such as soil and
landform maps, groundwater monitoring and
aerial photographs.
In February more than 200 people debated

the technologies at a national conference in
Bendigo, Victoria. In one paper, Dr Richard
George from Agriculture Western Australia
outlined findings of a cost-benefit analysis of
airborne geophysics for a catchment in the
WA wheatbelt.
"We undertook an analysis for NDSP in
which we compared the values of existing
sets of data and that added by geophysics," he
said.
"Encouragingly, after all the costs were taken
into account there was a potential net benefit.
However most of the benefit was driven by
information from radiometrics (soils)."
Dr George identified, as a general rule, three
criteria need to be satisfied before airborne
geophysics is cost beneficial:
• a likely net positive cash flow from the agricultural activity in the catchment;
• a relatively low level of knowledge of the
catchment;
• good potential for other off-farm benefits,
such as maintenance of infrastructure, developing and maintaining groundwater
resources, protection of significant biodiversity areas or managing water quality.

"The use of geophysics needs to be matched
carefully to an application. It has to be driv-


S A L T

Home

Key points
■ Major catchment surveys to
detect salinity using airborne
geophysics will begin in April
■ Cost-benefit analysis of the
technology suggests geophysics
needs to be carefully matched
with an application
■ Airborne geophysical data, used
in conjunction with other relevant
data, can provide unparalleled
insights into catchment evolution
and hydro-geological processes
■ However, an understanding of
these processes is essential for
managing dryland salinity in
agricultural catchments

en by a real need and it requires considerable
investment in developing scientific and community capacity.
"There is little point in a product that just
describes the problem more accurately, no

matter how appealing. It must be able to
deliver cost-effective decisions."
In another presentation, Russell Speed from
Agriculture Western Australia at Geraldton
reminded delegates that airborne geophysics
was a tool to facilitate the understanding of
catchment (hydrology) processes.
"Airborne geophysical data, used in conjunction with other relevant data, can provide
unparalleled insights into catchment evolution and hydro-geological processes. An
understanding of these processes is essential
for managing dryland salinity in agricultural
catchments," he said.
Russell had first-hand experience with two
surveys at Carnamah and Chapman Valley.
Carnamah, flown in 1992, aimed to investigate what contribution airborne geophysics
could make to improve catchment management with an emphasis on salinity. Prior to
the survey little was known about the hydrology apart from the obvious vast expanses of
salinity.

The airborne geophysics provided the basis
for developing a very detailed understanding
of the catchment hydrology, but gave little
insight into how to manage salinity.
"The limitation is not the airborne geophysics, rather the agronomic or cost-effective
engineering solutions to 'fix' existing salinity,"
Russell commented. "Groundwater quality
typically ranges from two-thirds of the salinity of seawater to one and half times seawater
and the options simply don't exist!
"Seven-and-a-half years later we continue to
monitor groundwater in the catchment.

Watertables rise and fall in response to seasonal rainfall, but there don't appear to be any
long-term trends. This suggests the catchment has reached a post-clearing equilibrium
and the salt-affected areas are probably not
spreading.
"So if it is not spreading, there is no need to
intervene and little application for geophysical data for salinity management."
By contrast, the Chapman Valley (WA) airborne geophysical data in 1997 did in fact
contribute to management. In this area, there
was a good understanding of the processes
controlling groundwater accumulation, discharge and salinity. With airborne geophysics
it was possible to map the bedrock and
regolith (weathered and sedimentary material
over the bedrock).
"The data clearly delineated known wet areas
and seeps at a sub-paddock level that could
be treated productively with suitable perennial pastures," Russell said.
"A 20-metre deep palaeo-channel was also
identified containing a potable water resource
that might be used in the future. If it is not to
be developed in the near future, it should be
protected from contamination from agricultural chemicals.
'Management within a catchment depends on
understanding the hydrology and appreciating the environmental limitations, not just the
geophysics," he added.

CONTACT:
■ Dr Richard George,
Agriculture Western Australia.
Ph: (08) 9780 6100,
E-mail:

Airborne geophysics technology
(opposite and left) is increasingly
being adopted as a tool for
assessing dryland salinity risk across
catchments.

M A G A Z I N E

Tell your
story in
SALT...
Australia's National Dryland Salinity
Program (NDSP) is a partnership in
research, development and extension
tackling the salinity risk to
Australia's land and water resources.
Every success story in the battle
against salinity should be told - your
experiences and solutions might help
others. Do you have a story to tell
about your experiences in tackling
salinity? If so, SALT magazine wants
to help you share it. Contact one of
the NDSP Communication
Co-ordinators listed below:

National
Kim Mitchell, Currie Communications
Ph: (03) 9696 5899
Fax: (03) 9696 6285

E-mail:

Queensland
Mark Warnick, Department of
Natural Resources and Mines
Ph: (07) 3362 9318
Fax: (07) 3896 9625
E-mail

New South Wales
Lisa Gray, Department of Land and
Water Conservation
Ph: (02) 9228 6111
Fax: (02) 9228 6464
E-mail:

Victoria
Jo Curkpatrick and Diana Wolfe,
Span Communication
Ph: (03) 9328 5301
Fax: (03) 9328 5302
E-mail:

South Australia
Bruce Munday, Clear Connections
Ph: (08) 8538 7075
Fax: (08) 8538 7075
E-mail:

Western Australia

Georgina Wilson, Agriculture
Western Australia
Ph: (08) 9368 3889
Fax: (08) 9474 2018
E-mail:
For further information about
Australia's National Dryland Salinity
Program, visit our web-site at the
following address: www.ndsp.gov.au

T h e M a g a z i n e o f A u s t r a l i a ’s N a t i o n a l D r y l a n d S a l i n i t y P ro g r a m

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salt
The Magazine of Australia’s National Dryland Salinity Program

"My experience sends the message that all Australian
landholders, no matter what your location, should be awake
to the signs of salinity, high water tables and subsequent
management that is required"
Murray Brimblecombe, livestock and grain farmer, QLD
(see story page 18)
"Lucerne is obviously a key to productivity on this farm...but
revegetation is also very high on our agenda...the network

of trees and shrubs now support birds we didn't even know
existed, along with all the other elements of biodiversity
which make this a more sustainable farm"
Philip and Diane Down, dairy farmers, SA
(see story page 4)
SALT Magazine brings you success stories from people tackling
dryland salinity on their land or in their area. Dryland salinity
remains a major threat to the long-term sustainability and
profitability of Australian agriculture and is increasingly impacting
on infrastructure in urban and regional areas. However, success in
managing salinity is being achieved across Australia, through a
variety of means.
Australia's National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP) is a
partnership in research, development and extension tackling the
salinity risk to Australia's land and water resources. NDSP
regularly publishes SALT Magazine to tell personal stories of
success in managing dryland salinity in a straightforward style.
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For further information about Australia's National Dryland Salinity
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