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Just how much salinity have we got?

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Healthy Environments

The answer in 2019 to this quite obviously important question is unfortunately, we don’t know.  However, we intend to find out.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has released its review into Salinity Management in Western Australia – and would like your feedback to their proposed new direction.

There are four pillars:

  • Information – updating the information so they know the extent and risk of salinity, making sure everyone knows about it and then having information available to help with management
  • Governance – bringing back the Soil and Land Conservation Council.  Engaging across Departments and with NRM, grower and Landcare groups
  • Innovation – tackling the research gaps.  Quantifying the positive outcomes for salinity, that work in the areas of Carbon Farming and Regenerative Agriculture can produce.
  • Investment – very much about Government protecting high-quality assets (roads, water supply and threatened species).  This is a bit like “treating the symptoms”, when the real impact will come when we take a landscape scale approach.  There is also an action to prepare a “Salinity Investment Framework Phase III” – Wheatbelt NRM wants to be working with Government in developing this so that we can get real impact across agricultural land. 

Check out the full report here, we have 8 weeks to give them feedback (due by 27 May 2019).  Wheatbelt NRM will give feedback, however, there is strength in numbers.  A depth of responses confirming that salinity never went away and that the Wheatbelt community welcome renewed action would be fantastic.

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