Student power (page 8)

Search for a salt-tolerantlegume (page 5)

in this issueSalinity – what are theprospects ..............................2Storing energy in salty water..3Turning ideas up there intoaction on the ground ..............3Timber in your tank sir?............4What chance a salt-tolerantlegume?.................................. 5Geophysics in the WA RuralTowns – Liquid Assets project 6Students and salt ......................8Salinity targets finalised for the Murray-Darling Basin ......10The saltbush, microbes,methane connection —innovation rewarded ............11C4 native grasses giving edge in high country............ 12BC2C coming your way..........13Getting to the HARRT of groundwater ....................14Mapping salt in the Murray-Darling Basin .......... 15

By Georgina Wilson

Research is nowconfirming thevalue of

saltland pastures, butplant selection andmore efficientestablishment alongwith an improvedunderstanding oflivestock physiologywould multiply gains,a Western Australiaaudience heardrecently.

In a keynote addressto a Sustainable Grazingon Saline Lands (SGSL)forum in Perth duringOctober, Dr DavidMasters from CSIROand the CRC Salinityhighlighted recent findings.

Dr Masters suggested there were benefits incategorising saltland based on factors such as soiland water salinity, rainfall, waterlogging and sitecharacterisation to allow rational decision makingon potential improvements.

“At high salinity categories, improvements insaltland are likely to bring only small increases inanimal production, plant growth and water use,”he said. “Whereas by selecting areas of moderateto low salinity, a good return on investment ispossible and long-term benefits in salinitymanagement will follow.”

The example given was of Michael and MargaretLloyd’s property near Lake Grace in WA. Whilethe salinity at the surface is low on this site, thewater table at about two metres down is about 1.5times that of seawater. By strategically plantingdouble rows of shrubs with annual pastures in theinter-row, the Lloyds have managed to maintain astocking rate at or above the district average (four dry sheep equivalent per hectare) whilepreventing a rise in the saline water table. With anintroduction of rotational grazing, stocking ratehas been increased to 7 DSE/ha on some parts ofthe farm.

In the longer term, new technologies currently inthe pipeline will present some exciting newopportunities. These include new forages, bothpastures and shrubs, reduced establishment costsand better grazing systems, he predicted.

Dr Masters pointed to recent CRC research ledby Dr Mary-Jane Rogers of the DPI in Victoria inscreening numerous legumes for salt tolerance.The star performer was the high-yielding Melilotusmessanensis, which when grown in a solution ofsodium chloride at about 35 per cent seawateryielded 89% of that produced by similar plantsgrown in pure water (see p 5). Selections of M.messanensis containing low amounts of theunwanted toxin coumarin are now underway todevelop a commercial cultivar suitable for the WAwheatbelt, the South East of South Australia, plusNew South Wales and Victoria inland from theGreat Dividing Range.

A major factor in successful saltland pastures isthe establishment costs and Dr Masters drew onwork by Dr Ed Barrett-Lennard (Department ofAgriculture WA) and Dr Jason Stevens (BotanicGardens & Parks Authority).

Saltland proving its worth

The national newsletter of salinity R&D

ISSUE 35

Dec 2005

ISSN: 1444-7703

• Continued next page >

Sheep regularly graze this stand of Oldman saltbush near Kimba (SA),which was previously “useless, waterlogged, saline unproductivepasture,” according to Eyre Peninsula woolgrower Barb Woolford.This photo, titled ‘Smoko’ and taken by Barb, won the ProductiveSaltland Pastures category in the SGSL Pride in Saltland Managementphotography competition. The traveling exhibition is now touringnationally (visit www.landwaterwool.gov.au)

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Posing to prove a point

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By Bruce Munday

The ultimate test for appliedresearch is that it should be useful.If not, then it has been undertaken

just for the exercise. Useful researchdelivers outputs in which the intendedend users willingly invest because it is clearly in their self-interest.

At some point in an R&D program it isimportant to take stock of the knowledgeand understanding that we haveaccumulated and declare how this can beused to guide rational investment in salinitymanagement – in other words, what arethe prospects?

Five years into its research, the CRCSalinity is now well placed to do just that –to synthesise what we know in key areasand make this knowledge accessible tonatural resource managers, agricultureprofessionals and policy advisers, leadingfarmers and leaders of farming groups andcatchment management organisations.

The CRC has identified five key areas ofresearch where we can make confident andcomprehensive prospect statements:

• Lucerne in crop and livestock systems• Sustainable production from saline lands• New industries from perennials in low

rainfall environments (<450 mm annualrainfall)

• Livestock production from perennials inrecharge areas

• Forestry in water supply catchments atsalinity risk (>450 mm annual rainfall).

The first of these, Lucerne, is now well intoproduction and will be available towards

the end of February, with others to followlater in 2006.

The CRC’s Prospect statements are notpromotional material, but objectivestatements identifying investmentopportunities whilst acknowledging therisks. Not only do they draw together manyof the research findings of the CRC, theyalso integrate important work from otheragencies and industry bodies. In particulareach will: • Review of the state of current knowledge

of the focus topic• Assess the economic and hydrological

importance at national, regional,catchment and farm levels

• Explore on and offsite advantages anddisadvantages of each innovation,covering the full range of impacts such asproductivity, water quantity and quality,and biodiversity

• Provide a prospective view of theparticular innovation and how it mightbe introduced into landscapes,catchments and farms, and at what scaleacross the nation

• Identify the benefits from investing infuture R&D based on analysis of gapsand opportunities

• Use case studies or models to test andsupport the theory.

There are real benefits too for the CRC ingenerating these Prospects statements. Itencourages us to further develop our ownintegrating processes, develop ‘systemslevel’ frameworks for investment,interrogate our own projects for relevantknowledge, and reality-test the draftoutputs with key people in research andextension.

CONTACT Kevin GossT: (08) 6488 2555E: kgoss@fnas.uwa.edu.au

Salinity — what are the

prospects

focusON SALT

These scientists are looking atgermination behaviour of saltbush and havefound that simple treatments such asdebracting saltbush fruits and priming withplant hormones can increase thegermination of buried seed. Recent datafrom a Meckering field site using Atriplexamnicola (river saltbush) buried at eightmillimetres showed that debracting andtreatment with giberellic acid couldimprove field emergence from 15% to 70%.

Grazing pastures containing high levels ofsalt has many consequences, now betterunderstood, Dr Masters commented. Highsalt can reduce feed intake and producesdramatic changes in rumen populationsand their function. High salt duringpregnancy may change salt tolerance oflambs and some interesting new researchindicates that cattle may be more salt-tolerant than sheep. Saltbush may alsohave beneficial effects on health andproduct quality with high levels of vitamin

E in the plant decreasing the risk of muscle-

wasting diseases and increasing the

shelf-life of meat. For wool, recent research

has indicated that levels of salt of up to 20%

in sheep diets have increased efficiency of

wool growth from 10 up to 14 grams per

kilogram of organic matter intake.

CONTACT Dr David Masters, CSIRO

T: (08) 9333 6691

E: david.masters@csiro.com

• From previous page

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By Bruce Munday

Large volumes of saline water, sooften seen as the collateral damagefrom drainage or salt interception

schemes, might actually be a neglectedresource according to Cliff Hignett, anindependent agricultural consultant,specialising in soil water problems.

Mr Hignett, based in Adelaide, contendsthat saline water in solar ponds has thepotential to generate low grade heat energyideally suited to regional industries such asglasshouse horticulture, fruit drying andaquaculture or even for heating publicbuildings and swimming pools.

When water is heated, warm water usuallyrises. However saline water, beingmore dense than fresh water,suppresses this convective processso that heat can be stored in thelower layer raising the temperatureas high as 80 degrees Celsius.

The key to storing the hot water atthe bottom of the pond is thesalinity gradient – the saltier anddenser the water at the bottom andthe fresher the water at the top, the more heat that can be storedbefore normal convective processestake over.

3

Mr Hignett comments that there arelimitations to the application of solarponds: “While the heat is ideal for dryingand warming, it can’t be used to boil wateror make steam and cannot be transportedfar – so the enterprise using the heat needsto be next to the pond. Secondly, the pondneeds to be well designed. Ideally it needsto be around three metres deep, with free(crystalline) salt on the bottom, and the topneeds to be held at the lowest salinity available. An important managementconsideration is the control of algal growthin nutrient-rich water which can beachieved by growing brine shrimp – ahighly saleable product in itself.

“Costs usually split into three parts.Firstly, the cost of shaping the lake, which

might be as much as $50,000 per ha on flatland, requiring a lot of earth moving. Thenthere might be as much as $100k for liningthe lake with black plastic to preventleakage, and laying pipes across the base of the lake to extract heat. Finally addthe cost of a pump to circulate waterthrough the pipe system and into theheaters in your facility.

“The economic benefit will depend on theuse to which the heat is put, but a 1ha solarpond produces about seven millionmegajoules of heat per year – an equivalentamount of gas would cost at least $110k.”

Mr Hignett points out that this is not newtechnology. It has been used overseas sincethe 1950s, Israel being the acknowledged

leader. At the moment, the only solarpond in Australia is at Kerang inVictoria, where the Pyramid Hill SaltCompany uses it to produce hot air toflash dry their ‘Gourmet Table Salt’.

For a further investment the hotwater can be used to produceelectricity. While the price is more than most mains supplies, it is around 30 per cent of the cost of running a diesel generator, or other solar based methods.Further information is onwww.solarponds.com

focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

Storing energy in salty water

Solar ponds at Pyramid Hill

Turning ideas up there into action

on the ground

The recent South Australian DrylandSalinity Committee’s annualsalinity forum, partly sponsored by

the CRC Salinity, addressed Lessonslearned in managing on-ground change forsalinity and related NRM benefits.

The forum featured:

• Case studies from six regions on projects to engage landholders in on-ground change

• Integrating salinity and biodiversityoutcomes – the USE Biodiversity Offset Scheme

• The development of large-scale commercialplantings of oil mallees to manage drylandsalinity in Western Australia

• Potential future commercial options forlarge-scale revegetation for salinity and other NRM benefits in SA through biomass industries andbiosequestration

• Progress with dryland salinity monitoringand evaluation at a State level.

Summing up, SA Dryland SalinityCommittee member Anita Crisp noted:“Although communities by and large are alldealing with the same issues, there are somany small differences, and culturalattitudes, that often stem from settlement,that one size and approach doesn’t fit all.

• Continued next page >

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By Bruce Munday and Matt Crosbie

Salinity and shrubs could combineto become the ‘petrol’ of the futuregiven emerging technologies which

allow ethanol to be produced fromwoody plants, cereal straw and grasses.

The next generation of renewable ethanol,made by the fermentation of biomass,could come from lignocellulosic or woodymaterials rather than expensive-to-producestarch and sugar sources such as grains andsugar cane or their processing residues.

CRC researcher, Mr John Bartle, recentlytold the South Australian Annual SalinityForum in Adelaide “This new technology,which is still in the process of being provencommercially, has enormous potential inAustralia - particularly with our majorproblem of salinity encroaching on valuableagricultural land.

“Salinity has a major impact on waterquality in many of the main tributaries inthe Murray-Darling Basin, whilst othertributaries are at risk. In Western Australia up to 5.5 million hectares of agriculturalland are at risk of salinity from rising water tables.

“In many cases planting trees and shrubswill still be the best means available ofstopping the spread of salinity and itsimpact on natural resources.”

The Biofuels Taskforce Report, recentlyreleased by the Prime Minister, notes thelarge international investment in this

technology, its likely cost advantage and theready supply of low cost woody feedstocks.

The Taskforce noted the potential for lignocellulosic ethanol technology toimpact materially on the economics of theethanol industry in the coming decade.However, it cautioned that policyinterventions based on current industrytechnologies and feedstocks should belimited in the absence of further assessmentof the impact of lignocellulosic technology.

Mr Kevin Goss, CEO of the CRC Salinity,believes Australia is likely to have a strongadvantage in cellulose-based ethanolproduction because of the large scale use ofwoody crops required for salinity control.

“It is absolutely essential that large scalecommercial uses for woody crops be

developed if salinity is to be beaten.Ethanol production could consume theresidue fraction of woody crops afterextraction of higher value products such asessential oils.

“In WA the rapid development of nativemallee species as woody crops is just oneexample of a potential supply of cellulosefor ethanol production.

“The CRC Salinity is working hard toincrease the diversity, production andadoption of woody crops through a range ofresearch projects including Florasearchwhich is identifying native plant species forsalinity control and commercial potential.”

CONTACT John BartleT: (08) 9334 0321 E: johnb@calm.wa.gov.au

Timber in your tank sir?

focusON SALT

Oil mallees might be an option in the WA wheatbelt

Anita commented on the need to balanceregional strategic planning with communityengagement: “We need to recognise thatregional plans and investment strategiesand the work that regional boards do arereally geared around investment andaccountability purposes. They are notwritten for landholders. However, thesuccess of this new regional approach mostcertainly depends upon the level of supportin the community. That will hinge on thelevel and quality of community supportavailable to translate and match regionalpriorities and new initiatives with localpriorities, needs and thinking.

“Exciting initiatives with market-based

instruments in the oil mallee project andthe work of the CSIRO point to where weare heading. But it is premature to throwaway existing, tried and true techniquessuch as incentive programs – MBI’s aremost certainly another tool on the belt, butagain one approach doesn’t suit allsituations. The way we do business may bechanging, but it is imperative that this isdelivered/facilitated through a simple andconsistent community interface – again wecan’t lose sight of who our target audience is.”

CONTACT Glenn GaleT: (08) 8303 9345E: gale.glenn@saugov.a.gov.au

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Different regions, different communitieswithin regions and different individuals areat varying stages of understanding, caringand engaging.

“We heard today how important it is tokeep connected and grounded to yourtarget audience – the landholders. Timeand time again we heard that an approachtailored to and understanding individualneeds is imperative.

“We also heard a lot about integration andworking with a farming systems approachand about getting multiple benefits andreducing the impact of externalities.”

• From previous page

By Bruce Munday

Acompanion legume forsalt-tolerant grasseswould be a great boost

for saltland grazing. Thepossibility of finding a plant thatfixes nitrogen and also provideshigh-quality feed out of season isthe aim a CRC Salinity projectDeveloping forage options tostabilise and regenerate salineenvironments led by Dr MaryJane Rogers of DPI Victoria.

Dr Rogers and Jo Deretic havescreened over 100 forage legumesfor salt tolerance in the glasshouseat Tatura using germplasm acquired bothlocally and internationally by Steve Hughesat the SARDI Genetic Resource Centre(GRC) in Adelaide in collaboration withRichard Snowball at the Department ofAgriculture GRC in Perth.

Dr Rogers has measured the dry matterproduction of individual species growingunder hydroponic saline conditions. “Somespecies have produced a large amount ofdry matter under non saline conditions buthave low relative salt tolerance levels,whereas other species are extremely lowproducing but have a high level of relativesalt tolerance,” she commented.

“Several legume species includingMelilotus messanensis, Medicago polymorpha,Lotus glaber, Trifolium hybridum, T. diffusumand several subspecies of Medicago sativa(ssp. Sativa, falcata, caerulea) are lookingpromising as a suitable species formoderately saline conditions in southernAustralia.

5

“These species stand out by combininggood relative salt tolerance with high levels of dry matter and have out-performedthe control species, balansa clover (T.michelanium), strawberry clover (T. fragiferum) and lucerne (M. sativa).”

Waterlogging is a familiar feature ofdischarge sites, so tolerance of waterloggingis a further essential attribute for salt-tolerant forage species. Dr Tim Colmer andKirsten Frost at the University of WesternAustralia are currently evaluating thewaterlogging tolerance of the same legumespecies as Dr Rogers by growing plants insterile agar solution. Their results to datesupport the salinity tolerance research, themost promising species showing toleranceto both the salinity and waterlogging stress.

The ultimate test of these pasture plants istheir nutritive value for animals, particularlywhen grown under saline conditions. Dr DaveHenry and Elizabeth Hulm (CSIRO) aremeasuring several nutritive traits including drymatter digestibility levels and metabolisable

focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

What chance a salt-tolerant

legume?

energy of plant material from theglasshouse salinity assessments.Surprisingly, the nutritive value ofthese forage species does not appearto be deteriorating under theexperimental saline conditions.

Plants (other than halophytes) thatare more tolerant of salineconditions are generally better ableto exclude sodium and chlorideions from their shoots. Kirsten Frostis analysing the plant tissue ions(Na, Cl and K) and again has founda good correlation with the drymatter values, the more salt-tolerantspecies such as M. messanensishaving lower concentrations of Na+

and Cl- in their shoots.The next step in this project is to evaluate

these priority species in the field. AndrewCraig (SARDI) and Phil Nichols(Department of Agriculture, WA) willestablish field sites early in 2006 in SouthAustralia and WA to test the glasshouseresults for both salinity and waterloggingtolerance under saline field conditions.

However this work is not without itschallenges. Dr Sean Miller and Andy Craig’swork with the National field evaluation andselection of new pasture plants to improvehydrologic stability of farming systems hasalready found that M. messanensis, one ofthe most promising salt- and waterlogging-tolerant new legumes, fails to nodulateeffectively with commercial inoculants.Nodulation is essential for plant growth andsurvival and to fix atmospheric nitrogen forsubsequent use by the grass component ofthe pasture. Fortunately, a number ofhighly effective experimental rhizobialstrains have been identified and these willbe fully evaluated during 2006 to confirmtheir field performance.

This project is drawing on the combinedexpertise and experience of researches in SA, WA, Victoria and the ACT, along withthe specialised resources and facilities inthese States.

CONTACT Dr M-J RogersT: (03) 5833 5251E: maryjane.rogers@dpi.vic.gov.au

Melilotus species growing at 240 mM NaCl in hydroponictanks in the glasshouse at Tatura. INSET: Melilotusmessanensis.

Shoot dry matter (as a percentage of control)

Species 0 dS/m 16 dS/m

Melilotus messanensis 100 89Lotus glaber 100 81Trifolium hybridum 100 109T. diffusum 100 91T.fragiferum (C1) 100 82T.michelanium (C2) 100 60Medicago sativa (C3) 100 75

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By Paul Wilkes, CurtinUniversity and CRC LEME

Rural Towns – LiquidAssets is a three-yearproject which

combines salinitymitigation with productionof new water supplies as aresource for water-basedindustries in sixteen of themost salt-affected towns inWestern Australia. Thismulti-agency, multi-disciplinary project worksin partnership with theshires and is aligned withstrategies prepared by fourcatchment councils.

The research team is fromthe WA Department ofAgriculture, CRC LEME, CSIRO Land andWater, Curtin University, University of WA,and the WA State Chemistry Centre. It issupported financially by the NationalAction Plan for Salinity and Water Quality,the shires and the research partners.

To understand the geology andhydrogeology of rural towns it is necessaryto have information on the thirddimension, that is, what is present at depthbeneath these towns. In particular it isuseful to get a more detailed picture of thetop 50 metres as this is where mostgroundwater flows and salt accumulates.We need to know about the shape of thetop of bedrock and structures such as faultsand dykes that influence water flow and saltmovement. One very useful way to getinformation on geology at depth is to usegeophysical surveys on the surface and inexisting boreholes and in new boreholesthat have been drilled as part of this project.

Already the project has undertakengeophysical work at the towns of Dowerin,Lake Grace, Merredin, Moora, Nyabing,Wagin, and Woodanilling – with nine moretowns to follow over the next year.

Designing geophysical surveys for urbanareas is challenging as there are many man-made sources of disturbance such as power

lines, vehicles and buildings. This requirescareful selection of appropriate geophysicalmethods and survey layouts. Sometimes itrequires data filtering to minimise thesignals due to artificial sources

Measuring the pullExperimental surveys in rural towns

conducted by Curtin UniversityDepartment of Exploration Geophysics,supported by CRC LEME, have found thatone of the most convenient and usefultechniques is to measure gravity veryaccurately – more particularly, variations ingravitational fieldstrength as this helpsto give us a pictureof the underlyinggeology.

We are all aware ofthe force of gravityand might assumethat it is constant.However it isaffected by thedensities of the rocksand sedimentsbeneath us, higherdensity materialincreasing the pullof gravity. Very

accurate gravity meters areavailable and have been usedfor many years in mineral andhydrocarbon exploration. Thelatest meters enable us tomeasure variations in gravityvery accurately - to about onepart in 100 million.

To calibrate the gravitymeasurements we also measurehorizontal positions and heightabove sea level as these alsoaffect the strength of gravityand we have to correct for theseto separate out the localgeological information.

The positional surveying isnow typically done with globalpositioning systems (GPS) andprovides information to betterthan five centimetres in all

three dimensions. Measurements aretypically taken at 25–50 metre spacingalong roads and across open areas such asparks, each measurement taking aboutthree minutes to complete. In towns suchas Wagin we typically measure the gravity atmore than 1000 points within the townand some outside the town to see more ofthe regional picture of the catchmentswhich affect the towns.

From this network of gravity stations weconstruct an image or map of the spatialvariation of gravity and also a very accuratedigital elevation model showing the

focusON SALT

Geophysics in the WA Rural Towns

— Liquid Assets project

Figure 1. Borehole geophysics operations in Moora, WA

Figure 2. Depth to bedrock map for Wagin, WA

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structures which affect the flow of waterbeneath the towns. Figures 2 and 3 showsome results of these investigations inWagin and which are used as input to otherparts of the Rural Towns – Liquid Assetsproject (see Focus on Salt Issue 32).

...the current...Electromagnetic (EM) surveys have also

been carried out in some of the towns andmore will follow. These provideinformation on the variation ofelectrical conductivity withdepth, a property related togeology, salinity and watercontent.

Parks and sports ovals are oftensuitable locations for thesesurveys as they minimise thedisturbances caused bypowerlines and artefacts fromother metallic services andinfrastructure. For the groundelectromagnetic surveys we layout square loops of wire, up to 50metres on the side, pass currentthrough these and measure theelectromagnetic signal we receiveback from the ground during thetime intervals between currentpulses in the transmitter loop.This signal is processed toprovide information on groundconductivity.

Where boreholes already exist in thetowns these prove to be useful survey sites.When using boreholes we measure theconductivity of the ground surrounding theborehole, using probes that are typically 38 mm in diameter and conveniently fitdown 50 mm PVC cased boreholes.

... and the radioactivity

We also measure natural gammaradioactivity in the boreholes as this relatesto the local geology through theconcentrations of radioactive potassium,uranium and thorium. Combining gammaand EM conductivity logs provides usefulinformation to correlate with the geologicalinformation that has already been obtainedthrough studying the material brought tothe surface from drilling the boreholes.

This project is using existing geophysicaltechniques in novel ways to improve theunderstanding and outcomes for ruraltowns.

CONTACTS Paul Wilkes, CRC LEMET: (08) 9266 2330E: paul.wilkes@geophy.curtin.edu.au

focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

variation of height above sea level. Usingthese images, and from what we alreadyknow about the local geology from drillingand surface observations, we can computethe depth to underlying bedrock and someof the horizons within the sediments thatlie between ground surface and bedrock.This analysis enables us to locate channels(such as ancient river beds) beneath thetowns and some of the other geological

Figure 3. Gravity map of Wagin, WA

Figure 5. Gravity and GPS survey operations in Wagin, WA

Figure 4. Apparent conductivityabout 20–30 metres below ground levelat Wagin, WA. Colours representconductivity (in millisiemens per metre),red being the more conductive and hereshowing salinities greater than that ofseawater.

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By Matt Crosbie

T he CRC Salinity’spostgraduate program spanseach of the CRC’s core

research programs. At the sametime it helps to expand the scope ofthe research that the CRC canundertake according to itsEducation Officer, DaryllRichardson.

“Currently we have 55 ‘active’ PhDstudents with seven graduated so farand up to 22 students expected tograduate over the next 12 months. Areflection of the exceptional standardof CRC Salinity students is that amongthem, they have been awarded everyresearch fellowship presented by theprestigious AW Howard MemorialTrust Inc. since its inception (LindsayBell – 2003, Alison Southwell – 2004, andNatasha Teakle – 2005).”

The CRC’s postgraduate professionaldevelopment program assists students torepresent the CRC at both national andinternational events, where on manyoccasions they might be the CRC’s onlyrepresentatives. In 2005, 11 internationaland five national travel awards enabledstudents to present their work to the world,in several cases taking out Conferenceawards. Mr Richardson added that thepostgraduate research program is highlyvalued by the CRC, which recognises theexceptional contribution it makes to itsorganisational goals.

A CRC review of the postgraduateprofessional development programrecommended that students should haveaccess to accredited training opportunities.This has led to a series of workshops thatprovide students with a range of‘statements of attainment’ in variouselements of management includingcommunication, conflict resolution andleadership.

The first of these workshops was heldrecently at Mundaring Weir (WesternAustralia) in conjunction with the annualpostgraduate student meeting. The successof this venture will lead to furtherworkshops at each of the three maincampuses of the participating universities.

The following two case studies providesnapshots of what some of our students areresearching.

Animal production from saltbushJim Franklin-McEvoy, a PhD student at

The University of Adelaide, is researchingsheep production from saltbush-basedpastures planted on salinised land.

The project is a continuation of hisHonours experiment dealing withsupplementary feeding of sheep to increasewool growth and meat production onsaltbush.

“Saltbush (atriplex sp.) is a major part ofthe diet of sheep in pastoral Australia,” Jimsays. “It has also been planted extensivelyin WA and South Australia to revegetatesalt-affected land.

“Something thatintrigues people whenlooking at a paddock ofsaltbush that has beengrazed by sheep is theway sheep heavily grazespecific bushes andapparently leave othersuntouched.

“Are these ‘preferred’bushes more nutritiousthan the bushes thatsheep ignore? This wasthe focus of one of myexperiments, in which

we rotated two groups of sheepthrough eight paddocks todetermine whether there was anyanimal production penaltyassociated with grazing the lesspreferred plants. The first group often-month-old Merino wethers - the‘leaders’ - grazed the first 40 per centof the saltbush, and were thenmoved to the next paddock.Immediately following was anothergroup, the ‘followers’, who grazedthe remaining plants. Thiscontinued through eight paddocksfor 53 days. The difference in weightgain was impressive, the leadersgaining 200 grams per day for thefirst 28 days, while the followers onlygained 20 g/day.

“However, for the final 25 days, theleaders gained 20 g/day and the

followers gained 45 g/day! (see graph) “Over the whole grazing period, the sheep

given greater dietary selection gainedalmost 6kg of liveweight, while the othergroup gained only 1.7 kg. So while thesheep given the opportunity to be ‘fussier’grew faster, their poor growth after onemonth is a mystery. This may be due togradually declining kidney function, adisorder among both groups.

“This has led me to another experiment,in which we are feeding laboratory rats withpellets containing various inclusion rates ofsaltbush (20, 40, 60%). We harvestedleaves from highly palatable and highlyunpalatable saltbushes, and so we have sixexperimental diets and a control, all

Students and salt

focusON SALT

Jim hiding under hat whilst administering alkanecapsules.

Weight gain of ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’ in same paddock

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0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56

Days of grazing

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LeadersFollowers

adjusted to contain equal concentrations ofenergy and protein. This experiment isdesigned to demonstrate whether therereally is a nutritional penalty associatedwith eating unpalatable saltbush, wherefeeding it in a pellet prevents selectivity.

“While obviously sheep and rats havesomewhat different digestive anatomies, webelieve that the results from thisexperiment will have practical implicationsfor sheep production from saltbush-basedpastures, a key component of plant-basedmanagement of dryland salinity.”

Fungi and saltBree Wilson’s PhD studies at Charles

Sturt University, Wagga Wagga,are investigating the geneticand functional diversity ofmycorrhizal fungi in saline soil.

“Mycorrhizal fungi have asymbiotic relationship with themajority of land plants, bothherbaceous and woody,” Breeexplains.

“Their major function is toincrease the uptake ofnutrients and water by plants.They achieve this by increasingthe surface area of the rootthrough the development of anexternal mycelium or fungalhyphae system and, in some

9

know much less of the effect of salinity onsoil fungi like mycorrhizal fungi, and weneed research to determine if salinity has anegative impact on these important fungalcommunities.

“Molecular biology, such as DNAfingerprinting techniques, is one way toexplore the diversity and ecology ofmycorrhizal fungi as the DNA can beextracted directly from the environmentand identified using DNA sequencing.

“In this study, I have chosen two fieldsites, one at Wagga Wagga and the othernorth of Orange in NSW, to investigate howthe diversity (community or populations) ofmycorrhizal fungi may change over asalinity gradient.

“In the first part of the research I will useDenaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis(DGGE) to analyse the soil communitiesand to look at the genetic diversity. DGGEis a DNA fingerprinting method whichallows for the parallel analysis of multiplesamples which can be processed morerapidly and cost-effectively than is possibleusing other methods.

“From this, the aim is to select a few of thefungi present at the sites and designglasshouse-based experiments to see howthey may differ functionally. For example,their ability to accumulate phosphorus orcompounds involved in conferring salttolerance to the plants that they livesymbiotically with, or mechanisms of

tolerance that enable the fungusto grow in a saline environment.

“This project will help usidentify what types of fungus aregrowing in certain areas, butmay also enable us to select forthe best fungi for commercialinoculum programs in particularenvironments.

“This project has only beengoing for seven months, so it isstill in its early days!”

CONTACT D RichardsonT: (07) 5446 6094E: DRichardson@csu.edu.au

focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

cases, an internal system of fungi that areinvolved in nutrient exchange. The fungusin turn receives sugars from plantphotosynthesis in exchange for the extranutrient acquisition.

“Fossil records of spores and hyphae ofarbuscular mycorrhizal-like fungi suggestthat they evolved with and may have beenvital to the establishment of the first landplants over 400 million years ago, so theirimportance in ecological function cannotbe underestimated.

“In general, much is known about theplant response to salinity, such as decreasedgrowth and productivity. However, we

Apparent differences in palatability of Atriplex nummularia

Bree Wilson viewing DNA extracted plant root and soil samples

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10

The recent adoption of the VictorianEnd-of-Valley Salinity Targets by theMurray-Darling Basin Ministerial

Council is a major step forward in theprogress towards managing salinitywithin the Murray-Darling Basin.

According to Murray-Darling BasinCommission (MDBC) Chief Executive DrWendy Craik, this means that salinitytargets are now in place for the majority oftributary rivers in each of the Basin States.New South Wales, Queensland and SouthAustralia finalised their targets in 2004,

whilst targets remain interim for theAustralian Capital Territory and the Kiewa,Ovens and Wimmera Rivers.

Dr Craik said this key milestone for theMurray-Darling Basin Salinity ManagementStrategy 2001-2015 (BSMS) was reached atthe recent meeting of the MinisterialCouncil in Brisbane, with Victoriasubmitting its end-of-valley salinity targets.

“The End-of-Valley Salinity Targets are akey feature of the BSMS and effectivelyprovide a ‘Cap’ on increasing salt loadsfrom each tributary valley,” Dr Craik said.

Salinity targets finalised for the

Murray-Darling Basin

focusON SALT

Basin salinity management strategy — End-of-valley salinity targets

“Partner Governments developed aninterim set of End-of-Valley targets forstream salinity and salt loads, and thesewere considered by catchmentcommunities during the public commentperiod for the draft BSMS in 2000/2001.

“The Salinity Targets are an importantmeans to prioritise within-valley catchmentactions such as improved farming systemsand targeted vegetation management,” she said.

• Continued next page >

Baseline conditions End-of-valley targets(1st Jan 2000) (as absolute value)

Salinity (EC µS/cm) Salt load (t/yr) Salinity (EC µS/cm) Salt load (t/yr)

Valley Median Peak Average Median Peak Average(50%ile) (80%ile) (50%ile) (80%ile)

ALL PARTNER GOVERMENTSMurray-Darling Basin 570 920 1,600,000 627 800 1,760,000

(95%ile) (95%ile)SOUTH AUSTRALIASA Border 380 470 1,300,000 - 412 -Lock 6 to Berri 450 600 1,500,000 - 543 -Below Morgan 600 820 1,600,000 - 770 -NEW SOUTH WALESMurrumbidgee 150 230 160,000 162 258 169,600Lachlan 430 660 250,000 460 693 257,500Bogan 440 490 27,000 581 456 34,830Macquarie 480 610 23,000 504 744 25,760Castlereagh 350 390 9,000 368 8,910Namoi 440 650 110,000 475 715 127,600Gwydir 400 540 7,000 412 545 7,000NSW Border Rivers 250 330 50,000 250 330 50,000Barwon-Darling 330 440 440,000 389 453 576,000NSW Upper Murray 54 59 150,000 - - -NSW Riverine Plains 310 390 1,100,000 - - -NSW Mallee Zone 380 470 1,300,000 - - -VICTORIAWimmera 1,380 1,720 31,000 1,380 1,720 31,000Avoca 2,060 5,290 37,000 2,096 - -Loddon 750 1,090 88,000 711 - -Campaspe 530 670 54,000 412 - -Goulburn 100 150 166,000 99 - -Broken 100 130 15,000 141 - -Ovens 72 100 54,000 72 100 54,540Kiewa 47 55 19,000 47 55 19,000Vic Upper Murray 54 59 150,000 - - -Vic Riverine Plains 270 380 630,000 - - -Vic Mallee Zone 380 470 1,300,000 - - -QUEENSLANDQld Border rivers 250 330 50,000 250 330 50,000Moonie 140 150 8,700 140 150 8,700Condamine-Balonne 170 210 4,200 170 210 4,200Paroo 90 100 24,000 90 100 24,000Warrego 101 110 4,800 101 110 4,800

100 130 5,500AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORYACT 180 280 - 180 280 -

11focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

The saltbush, microbes, methaneconnection — innovation rewarded

Aproject to examine whysaltbush causes sheep to loseweight and condition has won

CRC Salinity PhD student DianneMayberry the Western Australian prizein the 2005 Science and InnovationAwards for Young People inAgriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Di, who is studying at the University of WA, will receive up to $10,000 tocomplete a project of long-term benefit toAustralia’s agriculture.

Presenting the award, The Minister forAgriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the

Hon. Peter McGauran commented “MsMayberry’s project will help tackle one ofthe most serious problems facing Australianagriculture - salinity.

“Researchers in Western Australia aretrying to find practical ways farmers can getmore out of their saline land. In many areasof the State, farmers are sowing saltbushpastures, which are highly salt-tolerant andalso provide feed for livestock.

“However, sheep eating it tend to loseweight and condition. Dianne’s project willexamine whether this is because saltbushadversely affects the diversity and activity

these targets. This will require predictivetools that can assess the effects of variouscatchment actions such as land use on riverflow and salinity and to work through thepossible trade-offs. These tools will includeflow and salinity models (such as IQQMand REALM) for the tributaries to theMurray and Darling rivers, and local toregional scale catchment salt and watermodels (such as 2CSalt and CAT) that canlink with geophysical and other spatialinformation.

State government agencies, the AustralianGovernment, catchment managementauthorities and regional communities allplay critical roles in managing salinity.

“The Murray-Darling Basin MinisterialCouncil has approved these targets as animportant base for measuring progresstowards achieving salinity control in theBasin,” he explained.

The table and map show the end-of-valleytarget sites across the Basin, including theBasin target site at Morgan.

CONTACT Matt Kendall, MDBCSalinity ManagerT: (02) 6279 0132E: Matt.Kendall@mdbc.gov.auwww.mdbc.gov.au

Di Mayberry with some of her subjects

• Continued next page >

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MDBC Salinity Manager, Matt Kendall,said the within-valley actions together withdownstream actions, such as saltinterception schemes and dilution flows,were also expected to contribute to meetingthe Basin target at Morgan in SouthAustralia.

“The Basin target is to maintain thesalinity at Morgan at less than 800 EC for95 per cent of the time. Morgan is locatedupstream of the major pipeline off-takes forAdelaide’s water supply and 800 EC is theAustralian limit for good quality drinkingwater,” Mr Kendall said.

“The targets in themselves do notrepresent the full range of outcomessought, but are a way of measuring progresstowards achieving the Strategy’s objectives.While the targets need to be adaptive andflexible, they will only be changed wherethere is adequate justification, and with theagreement of the Ministerial Council.

“This will provide certainty and integrityfor the strategy and will ensure that effortsare directed to finding creative andinnovative ways to meet the targets. Datacollected to agreed standards from a

• From previous page

network of continuous flow and salinitymonitoring sites will be regularly reviewed,to assist in the complex process of assessingprogress towards meeting the End-of-Valleytargets”.

Mr Kendall said that the design anddelivery of outcomes from individualcatchment plans will be essential to achieve

12 focusON SALT

By Georgina Wilson

New CRC Salinity research isindicating that some perennialnative grasses that use the C4

biochemical pathway for photosynthesis,appear to have a significant advantage inwater use in high rainfall areas comparedwith some common C3 species.

Alison Southwell at Charles SturtUniversity, Wagga Wagga, has beencomparing water use of different nativepastures types in the Murrumbidgeecatchment near Yass. Since Europeansettlement, the original summer-active orC4 perennial pastures have been graduallydegraded by grazing, fertilisers and otherhuman impacts, allowing more competitivewinter-active C3 and then exotic annualspecies to invade.

“These high rainfall areas, often fairlyinaccessible, with rocky, shallow andsometimes acidic or sodic soils contributeheavily to salt loads in the Murrumbidgeeand Murray,” Alison noted. “The nativeperennial grasses evolved to surviveenvironmental constraints but struggle tocompete with introduced annuals such asvulpia, brome grasses and ryegrass. It isneither economical or practical to sow theseareas with improved pastures so we need towork with what is there already.”

Among the C4 native grasses, some ofthose still common include kangaroo grass(Themeda australis) and red grass(Bothriochloa macra). C3 perennials that are

still found in many areas and more activein winter months include weeping grass(Microlaena stipoides) and several wallabygrasses (Austrodanthonia spp.).

From September 2003 to April 2005Alison monitored three natural pasturesites near Yass comparing a C4 kangaroograss-dominant site, a mixed C3–C4 siteand C3-dominant site with plots sown toannual ryegrass. Plans for a longer studyhad to be abandoned following drought during 2002.

C4 native grasses giving edge

in high country

Neutron probe measurements haveshown that the site dominated by the C4grasses has been dried out to a muchgreater extent and more deeply than theannual pasture. The C3-dominated sites,including the mixture, showed only a smallincrease in water use over the annuals.

In a parallel study of transplanted matureplants at Wagga, Alison found that the rootsof the C4 red grass were much moreextensive than the C3 wallaby grass andpenetrated to 1.5 metres, compared withless than 1m.

“The aim for salinity and rechargemanagement is to create the greatest waterdeficit possible in the soil before the winterrains,” she said. “This appears to behappening more with the summer-activenative grasses.

“Getting more of these native grasses backinto these areas may not be easy, but otheradvantages would include more evenpasture production for graziers, lesslikelihood of erosion and reducedacidification.”

CONTACT Alison SouthwellT: (02) 6933 2749E: asouthwell@csu.eu.au

PhD student Alison Southwell at Wagga Wagga trial site

of microbes that live within the animals’rumen.”

During her honours research, Di foundthat rumen microbes from sheep fed onsaltbush produced more than four timesas much methane as those from sheep fedon a standard diet.

She intends to quantify the amount ofmethane produced by sheep grazing insaltbush pastures, enabling her todetermine if it is a major contributingfactor.

The award is one of seven State winners,and nine others sponsored by Australia’s

rural R&D corporations (RDCs). Theygive talented and enthusiastic youngpeople in rural and regional Australia theopportunity and funding to help turntheir ideas into reality.

The awards are supported by theAustralian Government and AustralianWool Innovation, Land & Water Australia,Meat & Livestock Australia, and by theFisheries, Forest & Wood Products,Grains, Grape & Wine, Rural Industriesand Sugar RDCs. They are coordinated bythe Bureau of Rural Sciences.

For a full list of this year’s winners, anddetails of their projects, visit:www.daff.gov.au/scienceawards

• From previous page

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By Bruce Munday

Biophysical Capacity to Change(BC2C) is a tool for highlightingthe magnitude of land-use change

impacts on catchment-scale water andsalt export, and in particular thevariation in response across thecatchment. It uses simple but robustapproaches to predict the changes inwater balance, as well as delays causedby groundwater response times.

This enables estimates of the long-termaverage salt and water yield from wholeunregulated catchments – that is,catchments in which stream flow is notgreatly influenced by man-made structuresor flow manipulation. The model alsorequires that all rain falling within theboundary is discharged to the surface orstream within the same boundaries, whichis sensible for upland areas consisting oflocal scale groundwater flow systems. Theresults from BC2C are lumped up to acatchment level and do not provide farmlevel information.

The model is a rapid assessment tooldesigned to help state extension officers,catchment management groups andplanners, policy staff and managers inconsultancies and State, regional and local government agencies. Whilst it isrelatively simple to use, it requiresknowledge of the processes affecting theflow of water through catchments,including hydrogeological information.

BC2C can be run with a user-friendlyinterface that allows changes to surfacevegetation to be reflected in water and saltyield over time.

To date BC2C has been used mainlywithin the Murray-Darling Basin, for example: • Prioritising catchments for salinity

benefits in the Goulburn-Brokencatchment, Victoria

• Searching for areas in the ACT with apotential downstream salinity benefit ifconverted to commercial tree plantations

• Determining the impact of tree plantingin the Little River catchment, NSW

• Assessing the salinity impact at Morganof tree planting across the uplands of theMurray-Darling Basin.

BC2C could be widely applied to othercatchments across Australia.

Being a rapid assessment tool it inevitablyhas certain features that impose limitations.However, it readily allows a user to get a feelfor the current situation in terms of waterand salt yield, and the relative differencesthat can be made by changing thepercentage of tree cover within individualparts of the catchment. Far from being an

end point, this quickly allows the user todecide where further investigation iswarranted, and those areas for whichvegetation manipulation will not producethe desired results.

Version 1.0.0b of BC2C is now availablefor download from the Catchment Modelling Toolkit websitehttp://www.toolkit.net.au/bc2c

CONTACT Dr Mat GilfedderT: (07) 3214 2844E: mat.gilfedder@csiro.au

BC2C coming your way

Figure 1. a) water b) salt c) EC contribution to outletTypical output from BC2C showing estimated relative impact of afforestation after20 years on: a) stream flow (darker orange is greater reduction), b) stream salt load(darker blue is greater reduction), and c) stream salinity changes at the outlet(darker blue is greater reduction, darker orange is greater increase).Black are areas of current forest cover

In Issue 34 of Focuson Salt the articleBalancing wateryields and saltloads with farmprofit featured agraph describingthe opportunitycosts associatedwith land usechange.Unfortunatelylabels were notprinted for threescenarios. This iscorrected in theaccompanyingdiagram.

13focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

14

By Georgina Wilson

Keeping track of groundwater levelsis a crucial part of salinitymanagement, but it can be difficult

to interpret changes over time. Inparticular, groundwater changes mayreflect long-term trends due to drainage ofexcess water below the root zone,fluctuations in rainfall, or land use change.

The HARTT method (HydrographAnalysis of Rainfall and Time Trends) hasbeen developed to untangle these variousinfluences. Using HARTT, one can easilyidentify the long-term trend of groundwaterrise or fall at a site, how much of theobserved changes are due to unusually highor low rainfall, and the impact of changes inland use.

Since its development by Albany-basedDepartment of Agriculture hydrologist,Ruhi Ferdowsian in 1999, HARTT hasbecome widely used in Western Australiaand other States.

HARTT is superior to recharge calculatorsin two ways: it is based on real data at thesite, rather than assumptions andextrapolations; and it accounts for all partsof the water balance, not just recharge. Themain disadvantage is that it requiresmonitoring and collection of data over aperiod, preferably at least two or three years.

The method provides high quality fits toobserved data in all but shallow bores (forwhich trend estimation is of less interest inany case). And even in these cases,statistical tests show that it is superior tothe traditional time-trend-only approach. Results are highly consistent with

hydrological expectations and can copewith irregularly spaced data and missingvalues.

HARTT is based on standard statisticalregression techniques, and is available as anExcel template. The HARTT-XLS templateuses Microsoft Visual Basic to extractrainfall and groundwater data from a varietyof sources including Microsoft Excelworkbooks, Access databases and ASCIItext files. The final results of the statisticalanalysis are presented in Microsoft Excelworkbooks for viewing and further analysis.

The graph (at left) shows HARTT analysisover 15 years for three very different boresat Jerramungup.

The latest version of HARTT-XLS forWindows XP and related papers can bedownloaded at: www.agric.wa.gov.au/ andsearch for HARRT. A $50 registration feeapplies plus a further fee if support isrequired.

Minimum data series required to applythe method are reasonably regularobservations of groundwater levels (sayfour to 12 times per year for two to threeyears), daily or monthly rainfall records,and dates of any management changes. To this can be added daily or monthlyevaporation for further accuracy of theanalysis, especially for shallow bores.

CONTACT Ruhi Ferdowsian,Department of Agriculture, WAT: (08) 9892 8423E: rferdowsian@agric.wa.gov.au

Getting to the HARRT of

groundwater

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Ruhi Ferdowsian

HARRT analysis over 15 years for three different bores at Jerramungup, WA

Shallow bore0

–0.5

Dep

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wat

er (

m)

–1.0

–1.5

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996Date

1998 2000 2002 2004

–2.0

–2.5

R2 = 0.70

ObservedFitted

–4

–4.2–4.4

Dep

th t

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rou

nd

wat

er (

m)

–4.6

–5.4–5.2–5.0–4.8

1989 1991 1993 1995 1997Date

1999 2001 2003 2005

–5.6–5.8

R2 = 0.81ObservedFitted

Medium-depth bore

–8

–9

Dep

th t

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rou

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wat

er (

m)

–10

–12

–11

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998Date

2000 2002 2004 2006

–13

–14

R2 = 0.98ObservedFitted

Deep bore

In 2004 the Australian Governmentcommitted to investing $20 millionfor identifying and managing

underground salt deposits in the Murray-Darling Basin.

A two-pronged approach, managed by theBureau of Rural Sciences (BRS), involves:1. A network of community-based stream

sampling projects, spread across theMurray-Darling Basin to produce auniform dataset of stream salinitymonitoring nodes.

2. A detailed salt mapping program usingairborne geophysics in two study areas,one in NSW and one in Victoria.

Community Stream SamplingThe BRS wrote to all Catchment

Management Authorities (CMAs) inNational Action Plan Priority Regions in theBasin seeking expressions of interest in thestream sampling component of the project.

The BRS has conducted previous streamsampling projects with partners from StateGovernments and CMAs. In theCudgegong Catchment in NSW, productssuch as the catchment rankings for salinityimpacts were developed from the streamsampling data.

These are valuable not just as catchmentmanagement tools but also for identifyinglocations where more detailed salt mappingprograms may be warranted.

15

Involving community groups indata collection encouragesownership of the salinity issues intheir area. The water testingprocedures that will be used aredesigned to be managed bycommunity groups, with qualitycontrol checks to ensure that thedata is fit for the purpose intended.

Training of community groups forthis type of survey is quick and costeffective, and many Landcare andWaterwatch members are alreadywell trained in water sampling andquality checking methodologies.

The training includes a series ofworkshops to demonstrate how tocalibrate and read the meters andrecord the data.

Salinity mappingIn NSW the priority area chosen

for salinity mapping is the CentralWest CMA, approximately 7500 km2 running along theMacquarie River from Narromine to theRAMSAR listed Macquarie Marshes. Theintention is to create a three-dimensionalmodel of subsurface salt over the flight area,with the information underpinning long-term strategies to protect one of Australia’smajor ecological assets.

A further 600km2 will be mapped nearTottenham in NSW to better understandthe potential for salt mobilisation followingland clearing.

The Victorian priority area for saltmapping has not yet been chosen, and thiswill be the focus of a forthcoming workshopof local, State and Federal representatives.

Different salt mapping techniques andtheir applicability are reviewed in SalinityMapping Methods in the AustralianContext, by Spies and Woodgate (See Focuson Salt, Issue 34). This report can bedownloaded from http://www.nrm.gov.au/publications/salinity-mapping/.

Airborne Electromagnetics (AEM) hasbeen favoured by the AustralianGovernment for this project because itdirectly maps the location of salt depositsburied deep in the landscape.

CONTACT Scott Macaulay, BRST: (02) 6272 4883E: Scott.Macaulay@affa.gov.au

focusON SALT

The national newsletter of sal inity R&D

Mapping salt in the Murray-

Darling Basin

Relative stream salinity levels for sub-catchments in the Cudgegong Catchment, NSW

New AEM salt mapping areas in NSW

16 focusON SALT

CRC Salinity Contacts:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERKevin GossT: (08) 6488 2555E: kgoss@fnas.uwa.edu.au

WA NODE MANAGERDr Richard GeorgeT: (08) 9780 6296E: rgeorge@agric.wa.gov.au

SA NODE MANAGERGlenn GaleT: (08) 8303 9345E: gale.glenn@saugov.sa.gov.au

VICTORIAN NODE MANAGERDr Tim CluneT: (02) 6030 4516E: tim.clune@dpi.vic.gov.au

NSW NODE MANAGERPeter J. ReganT: (02) 6391 3185E: peter.j.regan@agric.nsw.gov.au

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER & SADr Bruce MundayT: (08) 8538 7075E: bruce@clearconnections.com.au

WA COMMUNICATIONSGeorgina WilsonT: (08) 6488 7353E: gwilson@fnas.uwa.edu.au

VICTORIAN COMMUNICATIONSJo CurkpatrickT: (03) 9328 5301E: jo@spancom.com.au

NSW COMMUNICATIONSMatt CrosbieT: (02) 6926 2817E: nativegrass@bigpond.com

WEBSITECraig FeutrillT: (08) 8303 6707E: cfeutrill@arris.com.au

HEAD OFFICET: (08) 6488 8559E: salinity@fnas.uwa.edu.au

CRC LEME Contacts:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERDr Steve RogersT: (08) 6436 8699E: steve.rogers@csiro.au

CONTACT for FOCUS on SALTPaul WilkesT: (08) 9266 2330E: paul.wilkes@geophy.curtin.edu.au

HEAD OFFICET: (08) 6436 8695E: crcleme-hq@csiro.au

About Focus on SaltFocus on Salt is published by the CRC for Plant-based Management of DrylandSalinity (CRC Salinity) in collaboration with the CRC for LandscapeEnvironments and Mineral Exploration (CRC LEME).

CRC Salinity core partners are Charles Sturt University (CSU); CommonwealthScientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); Department ofAgriculture WA (DAWA); Department of Conservation and Land ManagementWA (CALM); Departments of Primary Industries (DPI) and Sustainability &Environment (DSE), Victoria; NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI);Departments of Primary Industry and Resources (PIRSA) and Water, Land andBiodiversity Conservation (DWLBC), SA; The University of Western Australia(UWA); The University of Adelaide (UA).

CRC Salinity supporting partners are Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF);Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI); Office of Science and Innovation,WA (OSI); Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC); Land & WaterAustralia (LWA); Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA); Murray-Darling BasinCommission (MDBC); National Farmers' Federation (NFF); Rural IndustriesResearch and Development Corporation (RIRDC); Landmark AWB.

For information about CRC Salinity visit www.crcsalinity.com

CRC LEME is an unincorporated joint venture that brings together groups fromThe Australian National University; CSIRO Exploration and Mining and CSIROLand and Water; Curtin University of Technology; Geoscience Australia;Minerals Council of Australia; NSW Department of Primary Industries; PrimaryIndustries and Resources SA; The University of Adelaide.

For information about CRC LEME visit www.crcleme.org.au

The information contained in this newsletter has been published in good faithby CRC Salinity and CRC LEME to assist public knowledge and discussion and tohelp improve sustainable management of land, water and vegetation. NeitherCRC Salinity, CRC LEME nor the partners in the CRCs endorse or recommend anyproducts identified by tradename, nor is any warranty implied by these CRCsand their partners about information presented in Focus on Salt. Readersshould contact the authors or contacts provided and conduct their ownenquiries before making use of the information in Focus on Salt.

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