Managing Salinity
Why talk salinity now?
Dryland salinity is a major issue in the agricultural regions of the South West of WA. Salinity has been developing since large scale clearing in the South West agricultural regions began, and is forecast to continue to expand for another 50 years or more. A problem estimated to cost agriculture $500 million per year.
Salinity came to the forefront of landcare action in the late 1990s and early 2000s. For a number of years State and Federal strategies and programs provided encouragement that government, industry, land managers and the community could work together over the 30 years that followed to make a big difference in combating salinity. Sadly programs have not continued and successive governments have provided little guidance on the issue for close to 10 years. In late 2018 the WA Auditor General conducted a review of management of salinity that slammed the State government for its lack of action on salinity in south-western Australia.
WALN is hoping this recent report will stimulate a new government response with appropriate support and funding for salinity action. On behalf of the community based landcare sector we hope to reignite the salinity conversation and get real salinity action happening.
We have attempted below to provide a summary of current situation with respect to salinity management in WA, an indication of the scale of threat salinity poses to the Western Australian environment and an outline of previous government strategies and programs to stimulate conversation on the topic. Our aim is that this will be an active topic with updates on developments in the salinity space provided as they come to hand.
Recent developments on the salinity front
In May 2018 the Western Australian Auditor General released a report on his findings of a review of management of salinity in Western Australia. In his report the Auditor General slammed the state government for its lack of action on salinity in south-western Australia. The Auditor General’s Review and six recommendations on salinity can be viewed on the Office of the Auditor Generals website https://audit.wa.gov.au/…/manage…/auditor-generals-overview/
Since the Auditor Generals Report was released GHD Consulting has been engaged by the State government to undertake a consultative review on the most effective steps the WA Government can make to address the continuing spread of salinity. WALN amongst a range of other stakeholders attended a workshop in early December 2018 and prepared a comprehensive submission to this consultative process.
On Tuesday 26 March 2019 the McGowan Government released a Media Statement that it is working towards a new direction for salinity management for Western Australia. A newly released consultative review, ‘A New Direction in Salinity Management’, prepared by GHD Consultants incorporates key stakeholder input and recommends improvements through four key ‘pillars’ – information, governance, innovation and investment. The review is now available for public comment by 27 May 2019. The report is available online at https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/salinityreview
WALN urges its members and the wider landcare community to have input into a recently released consultative review on salinity management.WALN has not had a chance to read and form a position on the consultative review and its recommendations but is urging its members to take a look and provide input to the process.
You can provide comment to WALN at enquiries@landcarewa.org.au and we will collate comments and submit them to government or if you prefer submit your comments directly to the State Government process.
The scale of the dryland salinity problem
Source: Western Australian Auditor General’s Report, Management of Salinity, Report 8, May 2018
http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/4011342a6e426cf28793cecc4825828f0016390c/$file/1342.pdf
Report Overview
‘Dryland salinity has been developing since large scale clearing began. It is estimated to affect between 1 and 2 million hectares (up to 10% of total land) in the agricultural regions of the South West, and cost $519 million per annum in lost agricultural production. Salinity also damages infrastructure, adding further costs, impacts on water resources and reduces biodiversity.
Predictions are that, without some level of intervention, the area of land affected by salinity could more than double over the next 50 to 100 years. Intervention on such a scale is a huge task and needs to be balanced against the possible cost, which could also be large.’
Salinity has been developing since large scale clearing in the South West agricultural regions began, and is forecast to continue to expand for another 50 years or more. Estimates are that it affects between 1 and 2 million hectares, potentially rising to 5 million, and costs over half a billion dollars a year in lost agricultural production alone.
The scale of the problem is daunting, but so is the scale of the action that would be needed to eliminate salinity. It would require re-planting 80% of the Wheatbelt, a huge task, requiring significant investment that would make broad scale agriculture, as it currently exists, impossible.
The State Salinity Strategy, which stopped 10 years ago, reflected the fact that salinity is a shared problem. It is not spread evenly through the landscape and managing it often relies on action by landholders whose land is not salt affected.
Recovering the landscape completely would take decades and comes with its own significant impacts. But agencies, landholders and communities can adapt to salinity and mitigate its spread and impact through well informed, well targeted, collaborative local action. For agencies to play an effective role in this, they need good information on the extent and impact of salinity, to understand the best options in tackling it, and they need to build effective partnerships to get things done.’
Recent articles and news items on salinity
State looks for new salinity direction By Travis King, Farm Weekly 8 Apr 2019
Soil Salinity in Australia: A Slow Motion Crisis By Andrea Gaynor and Keith Bradby 4 December 2018
Salinity on the rise in Western Australia following heavy unseasonal rainfall ABC WA County Hour 13 March 2017
Salinity crisis destroying Australia’s farmland, but farmers hope to stop it ABC Rural 3 June 2018
Past State and Federal Salinity Programs
WA State Salinity Strategy (2000) Source: State Natural Resource Management Program http://www.nrm.wa.gov.au/nrm-in-wa/key-publications/state-salinity-strategy.aspx The State Salinity Strategy was developed by the State Salinity Council after its review of the 1996 Salinity Action Plan. The strategy was developed with new research that showed action was needed sooner, and across more of the State, than previously thought. The Salinity Strategy showed how government, industry, land managers and the community could work together over the 30 years that followed to make a big difference in combating salinity. The strategy offered realistic targets and practical actions to tackle salinity including techniques and tools designed to recover some land already lost to salinity, to contain the spread of salinity, and to help communities and industry adapt to saline land in some areas. The State Salinity Strategy can be viewed here https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/conservation-management/salinity/salinity-strategy.pdf
Salinity Investment Framework (2003 & 2006) Source: State Natural Resource Management Program http://www.nrm.wa.gov.au/nrm-in-wa/key-publications/state-salinity-strategy.aspx . The development of the Salinity Investment Framework (SIF) was commissioned by the State Salinity Council in 2000 to guide public investment in salinity management initiatives at State, regional and catchment levels. The aims of the SIF are (a) to improve the cost-effectiveness of public investment in salinity management by directing funds to projects with the best potential to protect assets of high public value and (b) to consider strategies for supporting salinity management where direct investment in on-ground works cannot be justified. Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report Phase I Department of Environment 2003 http://dpannell.fnas.uwa.edu.au/slui32.pdf Salinity Investment Frame work Phase II Western Australian Department of Water 2006 http://dpannell.fnas.uwa.edu.au/slui34.pdf
Federal Salinity Programs – Source: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/natural-resources/salinity The Australian Government has supported salinity management through programs such as the National Dryland Salinity Program (1993-2004) and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (2001-2008). Since this time salinity management has been supported in the context of broader natural resource management programs through the Caring for our Country and National Landcare Program initiatives. Funds have been available through the sustainable Farm Practices national priority area to encourage landholders to maintain cover on salt affected land. The National Dryland Salinity Program (NDSP)(1993-2004) provided a major communication network for distributing salinity information and management support tools in Australia. Land and Water Australia maintains a list of NDSP’s web-based products. They include: Breaking Ground: Key Findings from 10 Years of Australia’s National Dryland Salinity Program .The National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) (2001-2008) developed new mapping methods for salinity using Airborne Electromagnetics (AEM). More information on the technology and the results of the salinity mapping program. Outcomes of these programs are contained in the 2005 Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee Inquiry Report: Living with Salinity – a report on progress http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/natural-resources/salinity/Government-Response-Salinity.pdf
Videos on salinity
Soil Salinity in Australia ( 2001)
Saltbush Yealering | Department of Agriculture and Food, WA. Published on May 11, 2015