Salt-affected land in the shire of Wongan-Ballidu, Western Australia

Abstract

A survey was conducted to measure the total area of salt affected land in the Wongan-Ballidu Shire. Initially two survey methods were used: an intense on-farm survey and a broadscale road traverse survey. In the test area there was no net difference in areas of salt land detected by the two survey methods. and the remainder of the shire was surveyed by the road traverse method. Difficulties in objective delineation of areas of primary and secondary salinity precluded accurate determination of each, and only the total salt-affected area could be measured. The total area was 51,975 ha. representing 15.4% of the shire area. Detailed surveys of three 2080 ha sites in the shire showed that in the 18 years between 1958 and 1976 the area of salt land increased by up to 237% with the mean area within sites increasing from 206 ha in 1958 to 541 ha in 1976.