Earth Sciences Commons^™

Tackling Salinity On The Esperance Sandplain, S J. Hearn, National Soil Conservation Program (Australia)

Resource management technical reports

The Esperance sandplain has serious secondary salinity. Waterlogging and poor surface drainage compound the problems. The original aim of the project was to promote high water use pastures for areas of deep sands as a way of limiting rechrge to the saline groundwater. This aim was later broadened to include the promotion of deep-rooted perennial pastures on all suitable soils.

Drainage Of Sandplain Seeps For Salinity Control And Stock Water Supplies, Richard George, Peter Frantom

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sandplain seeps are derived from a shallow groundwater system which flows from the deep sandplain soils upslope. Seeps result in small areas of salinity and waterlogging, which can be the focus of soil erosion. Sandplain seeps may represent as much as 10 per cent of Western Australia's salt problem in the drier agricultural area. Several drainage experiments conducted between 1986 and 1989 determined the best methods of reclaiming sandplain seeps.

This article discusses the results of these drainage experiments. It comments on the most suitable method for reclaiming sandplain seeps and developing them for stock water supplies.

Preliminary Groundwater And Salinity Investigation In The Eastern Wheatbelt. 4. Kitto's Hillslope, Tammin - 1985-90, Richard J. George Dr

Resource management technical reports

The investigation revealed that a deep, brackish to saline groundwater system and dolerite dyke, contained within the saprolite were responsible for the secondary salinity; the annual discharge of water and salt at the seep from the damp groundwater system was about 2800 kL and 17 tonnes respectively; and the water-tables were not rising and that the most appropriate management of the site was to plant salt tolerant forage plants in combination with trees.

Shallow Drains For Reducing Waterlogging And Salinity On Clay Flats, Don Mcfarlane, Tim Negus, Arjen Ryder

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Flooding, waterlogging and salinity are problems which commonly occur together on the broad valleys of the wheatbelt. Drainage lines often become poorly defined once they reach the valleys and flood waters spread out, causing inundation and waterlogging. This excess water needs to be controlled because it contributes to salinity

Seepage Interceptor Drains For Reducing Waterlogging And Salinity, Don Mcfarlane, Jim Cox

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Shallow interceptor drains can reduce waterlogging on sloping sites. Such drains will more than pay for themselves from the increased crop yield. Recent work has shown that these drains also decrease salinity so that they are cost-effective in the long as well as the short term.

Level Banks Used To Decrease Waterlogging Can Increase Salinity, Don Mcfarlane, Richard Engel, Arjen Ryder, Maurice Eales

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Some farmers have used level W1SALTS banks to control surface zvaters above areas affected by ivaterlogging and salinity. Because the amount of waterlogging has been reduced, crop yields have increased downslope of some banks. However, the banks divert fresh surface water into deeper salty groundwater and, in the long term, worsen salinity. This article details an investigation of the effect of level WIS ALTS banks on saline groundwaters and discusses alternative methods of preventing the waterlogging of saline areas.

Coordinated Water Management In A Basin With Erratic Surface Supplies: The Law North And South Of The Pecos, Charles T. Dumars

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

11 pages.

Contains references.

Review Of The Wisalts Bank Installations, C J. Henschke

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between The Concentration Of Total Soluble Salts And Osmotic Potential In Soil, Ground And Surface Waters For Several Regions Of Western Australia, H Borg

Resource management technical reports

In Western Australia salinity data are commonly reported in milligrams of total soluble salts per litre of solution. Laws from solution chemistry and data on the soluble salt composition for various regions of the State were combined to derive a relationship between total soluble salt concentration (C) and osmotic potential (WO) for each region. For the south-west of Western Australia, which contains the most productive agricultural areas in the Sate, this relationship is WO = 0.075 C.

Saltland Management, Tim Negus

Natural resources published reports

Salt land problems in Western Australia are categorized into one of three types:

* Valley waterlogging

* hillside seepage

* dry land salt

Catchment Salinity : Report On A Study Of The East Perenjori Catchment, C J. Henschke

Resource management technical reports

Dryland secondary salinisation has debilitated large areas of land in Western Australia due to clearing of native vegetation for agricultural development. The initial aim of the project (which is the subject of Part I of this report) was to establish a landscape framework for hydrogeological examination of the salinity problem. A catchment of 139 km2, located 30 km east of Perenjori townsite was selected for detailed study. It was mapped for soils, vegetation, topography, landform and salinity using both old and recent aerial photography. A field survey of soil hydraulic conductivity was undertaken to help define recharge areas. Soil-vegetation associations …

Soil Conservation And Management Strategies For The Toolibin Catchment, S J. Hearn

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Salinity In Western Australia : A Situation Statement, V T. Read

Resource management technical reports

The Select Committee on Salinity was established by the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in November 1987 to inquire into and report on salinity in Western Australia giving particular regard to:

• what action has, or is being taken, to assess the magnitude of the problem;

• what form of action can, or should, be taken to control salinity;

• what legislative of administrative acts or incentives to the private sector are necessary or desirable to assist further in controlling or eradicating salinity.

Members appointed to the Select Committee were the Honourable David Wordsworth (Chairman), the Honourable …

The Economics Of Saltland Agronomy, John S. Salerian, Clive Malcolm, Eddie Pol

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of A Saline Valley On Allandale Research Farm, D J. Mcfarlane, R Engel, A T. Ryder

Resource management technical reports

Geophysical surveys and drilling were used to investigate a saline valley on Allandale Research Farm. These techniques showed that the geology is controlling the location of two main areas of saline seeps and they identified another area at risk of increased salinity. They were also used to obtain information on the groundwater system and to assist in making management recommendations.

Electromagnetic terrain conductivity surveys showed that the most saline soils occurred upstream of a cross-cutting magnetic anomaly caused by a dolerite dyke. A seismic survey showed that the anomaly coincided with a bedrock rise. This bedrock rise restricts groundwater flow …

Seepage Interceptor Drains And Topsoil Salinity, T R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Department of Agriculture established 121 trials in its Narrogin advisory district starting in 1972 to measure the effect of bulldozer and grader built seepage interceptor banks and drains on the topsoil salinity of the land downslope of them.

After 14 years of moniterin, there was no evidence that seepage interceptor drains and banks reduced the top soil salinity on 10 of the 11 sites in the Pingelly, Brookton and Wickepin Shires.

Salinity Control In Northern China, G A. Robertson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

China has vast areas of saline land, perhaps as much as six million hectares. Some of this saline land is a result of marine influence in coastal areas and some is the resultof soil formation in areas with saline geological deposits and inadequate rainfall to leach out the salts at that time.

However, most saline soils in China are as a result of secondary salinisation processess induced by a hydrological imbalance resulting from over-clearing of the land or irrigation. This imbalance has produced rising watertables bringing the salt closer to the soil surface.

In this article, G..A. Robertson, Commissioner …

Draining A Saline Seep, W J. Burdass

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sub-surface drains have dried out a salty seep on farm land in the Katanning district. Capeweed and clovers are now growing on more than three-quarters of the land that was previously bare or carried only patchy sea barley grass.

The drains are still running water after five years. The salt content of the surface soil has been reduced markedly and the salt content of the effluent water is decreasing.

However, to complete the reclamation, further drains will be necessary. Both existing and any new drains will have to be flushed periodically because blockages of pipes cause problems.

Draining Irrigation Areas, K S. Cole, J P. Middlemas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many irrigation schemes throughout the world have turned into unproductive saline flats and swamps. This dramatic change can occur within a few years of irrigation starting and has been part of irrigation schemes from earliest times up to the present day.

The main cause of this salinisation is normally excess irrigation water use combined with poor drainage. Any form of waterlogging will have an adverse effect on plant growth.

Increasing Groundwater Salinity In The Northern Wheatbelt, R J. Mcgowan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Every farmer in western Australia's northern wheatbelt will know of a groundwater supply, be it bore, well or soak. that has become increasingly saline. The groundwater may have become more saline over a period of 15 years or more, or have been noticed only recently. Inevitably, the bore will lie within an area cleared for agriculture. This increase in groundwater salinity may be associated with soil salinisation. Although researchers have some understanding of the processes causing salinisation of groundwater in the wheatbelt and the extent of the problem, little is known about the rates of salinisation and groundwater rise. A …

Hydrological Studies In Soil Salinity, C J. Henschke

Resource management technical reports

Investigations involved examination of near-surface indurated layers to investigate their role in saltland formation. It was found that groundwater could move readily through this layer due to the presence of macro-pores. Close examination of apparently impermeable pallid zone clays, shows that decayed tree roots and large diameter voids provide a continuous pathway for the veritical transport of saline water from deeper aquifers.

Wheatbelt Salinity : A Review Of The Salt Land Problem In South Western Australia, C V. Malcolm

Technical Bulletins

Historical overview,Cause and nature of the salt problem, salt in rainfall, soils, topography and hydrology, effect of land use, Salt movement and accumulation on soil and groundwater, treatments for saltland, catchment measures, reclamation, re vegetation.

An Assessment Of Wisalts Banks At Dangin, C J. Henschke, J A. Bessell-Browne

Resource management technical reports

This report compares two alternative approaches for the treatment and management of salt affected land at Dangin, Western Australia by determining whether there are benefits from a WISALTS bank system which would not accrue from standard soil conservation recommendations; comparing the costs and benefits of the two systems; and determining the nature of the effects of the two systems, particularly with respect to soil salinity.

Review Of Current Drainage Investigations In Western Australia, R A. Nulsen

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Varying Fresh Water Discharge On Dispersion In An Estuarine Hydraulic Model Of The Lafayette River, Norfolk, Virginia, Michael J. Jugan

OES Theses and Dissertations

Three experimental tests were conducted in the Lafayette River branch of the Chesapeake Bay Hydraulic Model, each successive test with an increase in the amount of fresh water discharged into the head of the river. This was done to study the response from varying river discharge on mixing parameters including the longitudinal dispersion coefficient (E).

The model generated a tide of constant range and period. Batch releases of Rhodamine WT dye were made in the model and sampled throughout the river for ten tidal cycles. Samples were taken simultaneously at selected high and low water slack.

The calculation of the …

An Ecological Analysis Of Relic Diatoms In Sediments Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, David Ross Hetzel

Publications (WR)

Relic diatoms in sediments of the inner Las Vegas Bay, near the Las Vegas Wash sewage inflow, were examined in order to assess historic trophic conditions in this area of Lake Mead. Diatom sedimentation rates and ratios of Araphidineae/Centrales (A/C) diatom groups were determined from sediment cores collected in the old wash channel 1.5 km from the sewage inflow (station 2), in a small cove 1.5 km further downstream (station 3) and in an adjacent embayment off Gypsum Wash (station 4). Diatom sedimentation rates generally increased from the bottom to the top of each core, but pronounced minima existed at …

The Clean Water Act As A Restraint On Interbasin Transfers Of Water, Sue Ellen Harrison

New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: Interbasin Transfers: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 7-10)

44 pages.

Contains references.

Contains 1 attachment.

Influence Of Las Vegas Wash Density Current On Nutrient Availability And Phytoplankton Growth In Lake Mead, John R. Baker, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Density currents are commonly formed in reservoirs because of temperature or salinity induced density differences between inflowing and receiving waters. Anderson and Pritchard (1951) were among the first to demonstrate this in their investigations of density currents in Lake Mead. They found that the Colorado River formed an underflow in Lake Mead during the winter, an overflow in the spring and an interflow in the summer and fall. Wunderlich and Elder (1973) have since described the hydromechanics of these types of flow patterns, and density currents have been reported for several other large reservoirs (Carmack et al. 1979, Johnson and …

Alkalinity And Ph In The Southern Chesapeake Bay And The James River Estuary, George T. F. Wong

OES Faculty Publications

The ranges of alkalinity and pH in the southern Chesapeake Bay and the James River estuary were 2.25 meq·liter⁻¹ at 32‰ to

Effects Of Surface Drainage On Dryland Salinity, P R. George, T. R. Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Areas which are salt-affected are often also flooded. Although flooding is not the basic cause of salinity, surface drainage may improve conditions for plant growth, and this article describes suitable methods