Media release no.
New estimates on the extent and impact of dryland salinity have been completed by Agriculture Western Australia as part of the National Land and Water Resources Audit. Mr Hartley said that the national report's analysis of the salinity potential was based on level of watertables. Not all of these watertables are saline and not all the land with a shallow watertable will become saline, but the nationally-agreed methodology required information for comparisons between States and over time at regional scale. These include a new Rapid Catchment Appraisal process that will cover more than 2.5 million hectares of land this year, and all agricultural areas by 2005 to give communities the best possible information on their salinity risks and options for management. The Rapid Catchment Appraisal teams will be using recently developed computer models to provide farmers with a realistic assessment of the physical and economic impact of the range of management options available.