Historical stream salinity trends and catchment salt balances in the Murray - Darling Basin, Australia

Jolly, Ian; Williamson, David; Gilfedder, Mat; Walker, Glen; Morton, Richard; Robinson, Gerald B.; Jones, H.; Zhang, Lu; Dowling, T. I.; Dyce, P.; Nathan, Rory; Nandakumar, Nanda; Clarke, R. T.; McNeill, V.

doi:10.1071/mf00018

Cited by 105 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Also, the main channel receives inflows of saline groundwater drained from internal basins to the Saladillo stream (St 4-5r) due to elevation of the water table after large precipitation events (40 years). This particular process has a similar consequence to that observed in the lower Murray River, but in that case as a result of drainage from irrigation areas (Jolly et al 2001). The Pin˜eiro stream (St 2) was the only headwater tributary with oligohaline water throughout the sampling period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Nutrients, Conductivity and Plankton in a Landscape Approach to a Pampean Saline Lowland River (Salado River, Argentina)

et al. 2005

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Nutrients, Conductivity and Plankton in a Landscape Approach to a Pampean Saline Lowland River (Salado River, Argentina)

et al. 2005

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“…The rate of migration back to a state of equilibrium is dependent on the leaching rate and the magnitude of the salt stores. 35 In catchments with a mean annual rainfall of less than 500 mm, the time required to restore the salt equilibrium is expected to be of the order of hundreds to tens of thousands of years, depending on rainfall, hydrogeological conditions, salt storage, catchment size and the amount of vegetation clearance. 35 The salt mass balance approach has been used with some success to predict the effect of upstream catchment land use on salinity.…”

Section: Catchment Salt Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Catchments which mobilise salts are likely to exhibit ratios in excess of 1, and sometimes even as high as 15-30. 34,35 It is clear that the Sandspruit catchment is exporting significant quantities of salt to the Berg River (most likely driven by changes in land use). A continuation of this trend over the larger Berg catchment is expected to sustain the trend of increasing salinity levels in the Berg River.…”

Section: Spatial Variability In Salt Storagementioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the catchment salt balance: An important component of salinity assessments

Bugan¹,

Jovanovic²,

Clercq³

2015

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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Soil and stream salinisation is a major environmental problem because it reduces the productivity of landscapes and degrades water quality. The Berg River (South Africa) has been exhibiting a trend of increasing salinity levels, which has primarily been attributed to the manifestation of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity occurs as a result of changes in land use (indigenous vegetation to agriculture and/or pasture), which cause a change in the water and salt balance of the landscape, consequently mobilising stored salts. The quantification of salinity fluxes at the catchment scale is an initial step and integral part of developing dryland salinity mitigation measures. The objective of this study was to quantify the salinity fluxes in the Sandspruit catchment, a tributary catchment of the Berg River. This included the quantification of salt storage, salt input (rainfall) and salt output (in run-off). The results of the catchment salt balance computations indicate that the Sandspruit catchment is exporting salts, i.e. salt output exceeds salt input, which may have serious implications for downstream water users. Interpolated regolith salt storage generally exhibited increasing storage with decreasing ground elevation. A salinity hotspot was identified in the lower reaches of the catchment. It is envisaged that the data presented in this study may be used to classify the land according to the levels of salinity present; inform land management decisions; and provide a guide and framework for the prioritisation of areas for intervention and the choice and implementation of salinity management options. The data which were generated may also be used to calibrate hydrosalinity models.

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“…Electrical conductivity (EC) has long been used to monitor salinity in surface and ground waters [1]. Conductivity of electrolyte solutions is a complex function of salt concentration, ionic characteristics, temperature and properties of the solvent [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Statistical Description of Precision Conductivity Data for Aqueous Sodium Chloride

Wadsworth¹

2012

J Solution Chem

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Published precise data for NaCl in the temperature range 0-50°C were assembled, corrected to current standards and analyzed by weighted least-squares regression. There was a notable paucity of data at 0°C. Data were analyzed as specific conductivity to avoid violation of the statistical independence assumption. The regression model was a polynomial in √ c, with an added transcendental term. Powers of √ c were added to published equations to extend the range of c fitted. Temperature dependency of the coefficients was individually modeled by cubic functions in the Celsius temperature. Criteria for an acceptable model included lack of bias, similarity to published theoretical equations, and extrapolation to infinite dilution consistent with literature values. The predictive equation chosen was of the form: κ = Λ 0 c − Sc 3/2 + Ec 2 ln c + J 1 c 2 + J 2 c 5/2 + J 3 c 3 + J 4 c 7/2 + J 5 c 4 + J 6 c 9/2 and fit the data without bias but with high precision (±0.33 µS·cm −1 ) for the full range of published concentrations (up to 5.4 mol·L −1 ), over the temperature range 0-50°C, something not previously achieved. All coefficients but J 5 and J 6 were temperature dependent; the latter terms were required for an unbiased fit at higher concentrations (> 1 mol·L −1 ). Solution of the equation for infinite dilution matched published values closely. The use of separate empirical temperature dependency for the equation coefficients may provide an independent means of validating theoretical treatments of conductivity data.

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Historical stream salinity trends and catchment salt balances in the Murray - Darling Basin, Australia

Cited by 105 publications

References 13 publications

Nutrients, Conductivity and Plankton in a Landscape Approach to a Pampean Saline Lowland River (Salado River, Argentina)

Nutrients, Conductivity and Plankton in a Landscape Approach to a Pampean Saline Lowland River (Salado River, Argentina)

Quantifying the catchment salt balance: An important component of salinity assessments

The Statistical Description of Precision Conductivity Data for Aqueous Sodium Chloride

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