Basin Salinity Management Strategy - 1999:
The 1999 Salinity Audit found that the Salinity & Drainage Strategy had significantly improved
salinity levels in the River Murray. However, the gains would be offset by large increases in
salinity from the dryland areas of the basin if the combined impacts of irrigation, dryland, and
natural salinity were not managed using a coordinated basin-wide approach.
The Basin Salinity Management Strategy (BSMS) (2001-2015) is a basin-wide agreement that establishes
salinity targets for the main river and the tributary valleys of the system. The BSMS requires that
responsibility for protecting key natural resource values be shared by both valley communities and
the States. The strategy is consistent with the principles of the Integrated Catchment Management
Policy Statement (ICM).
The BSMS has four main objectives that will be achieved through the applications of actions to meet
salinity targets:
- To maintain the water quality of the shared resources of the Murray and Darling Rivers;
river salinity to be maintained at <800 EC for 95% of the time at Morgan, SA;
- To control the rise in salt loads in all tributary rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin;
end of valley targets to be met;
- To control land degradation and protect important terrestrial ecosystems, productive
farm land, cultural heritage and built infrastructure at agreed levels basin-wide
(expressed as within-valley targets); and
- To maximise net benefits from salinity control across the Basin
Much of the strategic implementation is in the hands of the catchment communities and is guided by
salinity and catchment management plans. Under the previous Salinity & Drainage Strategy (1998),
individual states were accountable for increases in salinity resulting from irrigation development
since 1988. The new BSMS made the States accountable for the impacts of development post 2000. This
strategy differentiates between accountability to offset the salinity impacts of future actions
(new development) and responsibility to offset the salinity impacts of past actions (Murray Darling
Basin Commission 2001; South Australia. Dept. for Water 2001).
A key feature of the BSMS is the adoption of salinity targets to be met by 2015. For every tributary
river valley a “cap” was set on the total salt that could leave the catchment. Eight strategic actions
were also part of the strategy:
- Identification of values and assets at risk;
- Setting salinity targets;
- Managing trade-offs with the available within-valley options;
- Implementing salinity and catchment management plans;
- Redesigning farming systems;
- Targeting re-afforestation and vegetation management;
- Constructing salt interception works; and
- Ensuring basin-wide accountability, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
