‘Keeping salt on the farm’—Evaluation of an on-farm salinity management system in the Shepparton irrigation region of South-East Australia

Bruce C. Gill and Alister D. Terry

Agricultural Water Management, 2016, vol. 164, issue P2, 291-303

Abstract: High watertables and land salinisation in irrigation areas worldwide can often be managed with various forms of sub-surface drainage, but constraints on the disposal of saline drainage water to downstream users and environments often requires on-site management methods. In the Shepparton Irrigation Region of northern Victoria, Australia, groundwater pumping with on-farm re-use is a well-established and effective salinity management method, provided the groundwater salinity is less than 5dS/m. In this study, a trial system established on an operating dairy farm could utilise 60Ml/yr of 10dS/m groundwater without requiring any off-site disposal. Normally in this region, such a circumstance would require evaporation basin disposal, but in this trial system, a salt-tolerant tree plantation established on already salinized land within the area of influence of the groundwater pump replaced an evaporation basin.

Keywords: Salinity management; Sub-surface drainage; Groundwater re-use; Conjunctive use; Irrigation; Land salinisation; High watertable (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:164:y:2016:i:p2:p:291-303

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2015.10.014

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