Dealing with salinity in Wheatbelt Valleys - Department of Water

within three categories: relationships between
farmer landholders within the catchment;
relationships between farmers and the main
government landholder in the catchment (CALM);
and relationships between government agencies and
other groups. Issues relating to philosophy of
management apply across these three categories.
These matters have been covered above under the
section on ‘Philosophy’. However, it is reemphasised
here that the varying congruence of
goals and philosophies that exist between groups and
individuals is both a source of tension (for example,
as disagreement) and of creativity (for example,
stimulates new ways of looking at issues). Burbidge
& Wallace (1994) provide a more detailed discussion
of general philosophical issues. Here it is sufficient to
note that continuous liaison and positive interaction
between groups and individuals is essential to
develop and maintain sufficiently congruent goals and
philosophies for cohesive, effective management
action.
Relationships between farmers within the catchment
Key points are:
1. The Toolibin Catchment covers several farming
communities. These are broadly based around
the towns of Wickepin, Tincurrin and Narrogin.
Thus the catchment boundaries are not
congruent with social boundaries, and this has
affected interactions amongst catchment
landholders. The divided social groupings have
not helped communication and unified action.
2. The Lake Toolibin Catchment Group has found
that the catchment scale is too broad to
maximise effective action on the ground.
Rather, it has been found that sub-catchment
groups are essential to implement some onground
actions; larger groups are just too
unwieldy and the sense of mutual co-operation
too diffuse.
3. Throughout the south-west it has often proved
difficult to involve landholders who own
properties high in the landscape in catchment
activities. Those low in the landscape bear, at
least initially, the brunt of landcare problems
involving hydrological issues. This separation
into upper and lower landscape landholders is a
problem that has not been fully resolved.
4. Toolibin Catchment lies within a part of the
agricultural region that is comparatively ‘safe’ in
terms of rainfall and consequent production, but,
– 7 –
Wallace
due to the dependence on pastoral as well as
agricultural income, there is little cash surplus.
The combined effect of these factors seems to
be that landholders are mostly conservative in
terms of taking up new ideas. This has
influenced the intensity with which landholders
have attacked landcare issues compared with
other parts of the agricultural region.
Relationships between CALM and farmers
Key points are:
1. Co-operative arrangements between CALM and
the local farmers are currently working well.
There have been difficult periods, and this has
occurred for a number of reasons. An important
source of friction has been that, particularly with
respect to drainage activities, CALM and farmers
have sometimes disagreed about the likely
outcomes of actions. These problems have
been resolved by improved research and
engineering design, and by linking approval of
drainage activities with agreements to undertake
other works, particularly catchment
revegetation. While not formal contracts, these
agreements are important. If it had been
practicable, a formal agreement would have
strengthened the clear commitment of the
parties involved. While the land management
goals of farmers and CALM are often mutually
supportive, they are not always so. This can be
a source of tension, and the following three
points are important in this light.
2. It is difficult for CALM to maintain, in light of
changing personnel, a constant contact person
within the agency for farmers. This makes it
more difficult to develop long-term relationships
of mutual trust and understanding.
3. In CALMs Wheatbelt Region there are
35 personnel to undertake all departmental
operations including the management of some
1 million hectares of nature reserves. Inevitably
management is largely reactive, and while
significant time is allocated to Toolibin, other
issues make significant demands on personnel.
Thus it is difficult to maintain a sufficiently high
level of liaison with local farmers to ensure that
there is adequate exchange of information,
successes and concerns.
4. An important mechanism for counteracting the
difficulties raised is to have, as we do at Toolibin,
interlocking memberships of the farmland