Even far from the ocean, Australia’s drylands are riddled with salty groundwater. What can land managers do?

  • Written by: Nik Callow, Associate Professor - Geography, The University of Western Australia
Even far from the ocean, Australia’s drylands are riddled with salty groundwater. What can land managers do?Nik Callow, Author provided

In the 1890s, railway engineers noticed river water used by steam locomotives started to become salty when surrounding land was cleared for agriculture.

Over the next decades, the problem worsened. In 1917, a Royal Commission in Western Australia dismissed the threat from salt and instead promoted more clearing of land.

Ig...

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