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Managing Our Natural Resources
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment

Home > Managing Our Natural Resources > Land Management & Soils > Salinity > Land Degradation & Salinity Risk Project

Land Degradation and Salinity Risk Project

Project Overview

In recent years there has been a trend in parts of Tasmania for land use change away from traditional grazing enterprises to more intensive cropping, and often irrigated cropping, activities. In the past land use intensification has occurred by transferring technology and experience from one area to another. However, as the soils and climate are often different this has, on occasion, resulted in considerable damage to the soil and economic losses to the farmer. This project was initiated to identify some of the risks and hazards in three selected study areas around the State, Waterhouse, Tunbridge and the Coal River Valley. The full findings of the study are presented in a compendium of reports available from DPIPWE in CD format or directly from the pdf documents below.

The project involved a range of activities at each study site. These included:
  • A resource inventory and hazard identification, incorporating soil and unique area mapping (UMA), soil physical characterisation and salinity surveys (using an EM31 instrument) and assessment of the contribution of rainfall to the salt budget.
  • A review of salinity and water balance models available that might assist with predicting impacts of land use change on the water balance; and
  • Investigations of groundwater flow systems to determine their relevance to salinity processes in each study area.

Salinity Hazard Assessment

A number of activities were undertaken in each area to determine the risk of expanding salinity as a result of land use intensification. Estimates of below ground salt storage were made using an EM31 instrument. This tool simply sends an electromagnetic signal into the ground and captures the strength of the return signal which, at least in part, is related to the amount of salt storage to a depth of about 5 metres. The data collected was used to generate maps of sub surface salt storage for each study area. Table 1 provides details of the extent of each salinity class identified.

Non Saline
<2 dS/m
Slightly Saline 2-4 dS/m
Moderately Saline 4-8 dS/m
Very Saline
8-16 dS/m
Extremely Saline > 16 dS/m
Total
Coal River Valley
513
3197
898
8
0
4616
Tunbridge
212
2190
2080
150
1
4633
Waterhouse
1
1019
4735
614
31
6400
Table 1. Areas of land (ha) within the various salinity classes (ECese) in each study area

Project Reports and Documents



Download Overarching Report as a PDF  Overarching Report
(PDF: 468 KB / 35 pages)  

This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Coal River

      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Coal River Valley Report as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Coal River Valley Report
      (PDF: 1.06 MB / 121 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Coal River Valley Map 1a - Dominant Soils of the Coal River Valley as a PDF  Coal River Valley Map 1a - Dominant Soils of the Coal River Valley
      (PDF: 10.87 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Coal River Map 1b - Salinity Classes of the Coal River Valley as a PDF  Coal River Map 1b - Salinity Classes of the Coal River Valley
      (PDF: 10.58 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Coal River Map 1c - Areas of Sodicity Risk as a PDF  Coal River Map 1c - Areas of Sodicity Risk
      (PDF: 10.42 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Tunbridge

      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Tunbridge District Report as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Tunbridge District Report
      (PDF: 1.76 MB / 125 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Tunbridge District Map 2a - Dominant Soils as a PDF  Tunbridge District Map 2a - Dominant Soils
      (PDF: 5.01 MB)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Tunbridge District Map 2b - Salinity Classes as a PDF  Tunbridge District Map 2b - Salinity Classes
      (PDF: 4.82 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Tunbridge District Map 2c - Areas of Sodicity Risk as a PDF  Tunbridge District Map 2c - Areas of Sodicity Risk
      (PDF: 4.74 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Tunbridge District Map 2d - Areas of Waterlogging risk as a PDF  Tunbridge District Map 2d - Areas of Waterlogging risk
      (PDF: 4.53 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Tunbridge District Map 2e - Wind Erosion Risk as a PDF  Tunbridge District Map 2e - Wind Erosion Risk
      (PDF: 4.64 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Waterhouse

      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Waterhouse District Report as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Waterhouse District Report
      (PDF: 2.91 MB / 166 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Waterhouse District Map 3a - Dominant Soils as a PDF  Waterhouse District Map 3a - Dominant Soils
      (PDF: 8.17 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Waterhouse District map 3b - Wind Erosion Risk as a PDF  Waterhouse District map 3b - Wind Erosion Risk
      (PDF: 8.54 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Waterhouse District Map 3c - Waterlogging Risk as a PDF  Waterhouse District Map 3c - Waterlogging Risk
      (PDF: 7.84 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Waterhouse District Map 3d - Salinity Classes as a PDF  Waterhouse District Map 3d - Salinity Classes
      (PDF: 8.20 MB / 1 page)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Additional reports and studies

      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Modelling Report as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Modelling Report
      (PDF: 829 KB / 33 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Hydrological Studies as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Hydrological Studies
      (PDF: 387 KB / 28 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.
      Download Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Communications Strategy as a PDF  Land Degradation Salinity Risk Project - Communications Strategy
      (PDF: 653 KB / 22 pages)        

      This is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is easy to download and is free of charge.

Contact: Senior Land Resource Assessment Officer
Chris Grose
Senior Land Resource Assessment Officer
171 Westbury Road
PROSPECT TAS 7250
Phone: 03 6336 5422
Fax: 03 6336 5111
Email: Chris.Grose@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

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