Land salinity: Area of land threatened by shallow or rising watertables
Indicator Status: Agreed
Department of the Environment and Heritage
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Land salinity has been defined as the area of land affected or threatened by shallow or rising watertables. Salinity occurs when groundwater moves up through the ground (discharge) into the root zone and eventually the soil surface. It is a result of increasing pressure of groundwater and is reduced when groundwater pressures recede. Three indicators are provided to measure salinity:
Under some circumstances, particularly where groundwater flow systems are well understood, depth to groundwater and groundwater salinity may provide sufficient information to measure the effectiveness of actions to address salinity. Data from the first two indicators can be used to pinpoint location and size of salt-affected areas. However, sometimes we may also need to define where salt-affected areas occur.
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