Dealing with salinity in Wheatbelt Valleys - Department of Water

Morrell, Hatton and Curry
Town Project in Pingrup should be installed with an
automatic water level recorder. In total, it is
recommended to install at least twelve loggers and
probes in the catchment (approximate cost of $6,000
for the monitoring equipment). It is always better to
select wells in the upper and middle slopes of the
catchment where most of the recharge is taking
place. Monitoring wells in the lower parts of the
catchment where most of the discharge is taking
place will not be of any use.
WHERE TO FROM HERE
Drought, frosts, terms of trade and other external
factors that farmers can have little or no impact on
will always be with us. On top of the above, salinity
is increasing rapidly, thus further reducing our
profitability. The CSIRO/DEP/Murdoch University
report suggested that up to 50% of our catchment
could be adversely affected by saline water tables
within 2 metres of the surface within 50 years if we
continue current practices. These predictions are of
course a worst case scenario, but the report has
given us a feel for the problem facing us.
Questions to be pondered:
• How hard will it be to not let the salinity
problem get that big?
• Will it really be as bad as predicted?
• How can we learn to live with it?
• What percentage of salinity are we prepared to
live with and can we achieve this level with
current knowledge?
• The predictions do not mean that the situation is
hopeless, but rather we need some lateral
thinking. Are there systems in place to assist this
lateral thinking?
• How can we become consistently profitable so
that the problems can be addressed every year,
not just when there has been a profit?
• Farmers are innovative, but can they come up
with the solutions?
FINAL THOUGHTS
We need to decide what level of salinity we can live
with and set achievable milestones and targets on
our way to achieving this level. Some farmers are
prepared to try new ideas without first having proof
of the success of it, or if it will be economically sound
in the short term. An example is drainage. Farmers’
expectations from some actions can differ. Farmers
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are often merely looking for solutions that will enable
them to continue to farm as they currently do,
without looking at the short term economic return.
New industries that are profitable are required if a
rapid uptake of a solution is to be achieved. Farmers
have shown that they embrace new ideas very
quickly if they see some benefit to themselves.
People are important. If no one remains in rural
areas, salinity WILL NOT cease. It will continue to
rise. With no one to address these problems, many
assets of value will be lost. Therefore a completely
new way of tackling the problem needs to occur.
Old ideas should be fully explored. No idea should
be dismissed, even if it is not addressing the cause,
but the symptoms instead. These solutions hopefully
will buy us time to discover new ways of addressing
and living with salinity. There are too many decision
makers who have closed minds, and most of them do
not have to live with the results of decisions they
make. They merely continue to collect their pay and
head back into their own little world. Landholders
do not, as some people seem to think, consciously go
out to destroy their environment each day, but have
to live with both the good and bad decisions they
make. Farmers, like all other people, are generally
trying to do the right thing by their families, their
communities and their environment and should be
assisted, and certainly not hindered, in their
endeavours.
The risk maps presented to the Lake Chinocup
Community have been useful, but for the necessary
change to occur top down approaches will never
work. Landholders need to be involved at all levels
of decision making to successfully tackle this
problem.
ACTION FOR POST CONFERENCE
Find the innovative land managers who are working
with little assistance and help them develop their
ideas into on ground actions. Look again at
"integrated catchment planning". The current
methods are not working. Some assets of value may
need to be given up, e.g. some areas of biodiversity.
Prioritise them. Protect our most valuable asset, the
rural resident. We are becoming extinct.