The consultative review report and public submissions
The attached report – A new direction for salinity management in Western Australia: a consultative review – was available for public comment until close of business Friday 28 June 2019.
Submissions have been read and are being used to generate a report to government. Government will use this report and the detailed submissions to help target investment of public funds for improved salinity management.
Key points from submissions received from approximately 50 groups or individuals have been summarised against the four main pillars recognised by the report ‘New Directions for Salinity management in Western Australia: A Consultative review’. These points have been paraphrased from the individual submissions in order to capture the intent of the submitter’s comments.
Consultation for this review
This review included consultation with key agencies on the effectiveness of a range of government programmes that had investment in salinity management and research and a workshop that involved more than 35 stakeholder groups, each representing perspectives on salinity extent and management.
Findings of the consultative review
The overall conclusion of this review is that salinisation of land and water remains a significant problem. The review found that since 2006, there has been limited investment into the economic and environmental impacts of salinity and that studies of feasible and cost effective management options have not been updated in recent times.
To answer the two questions posed by the Office of the Auditor General, this review found that:
- agencies did not know, accurately, the changes in extent and impacts of secondary dryland salinity since the last quantitative measure in 2000
- there had been successful reduction of the impacts of secondary dryland salinity in discrete areas, but at the gross level, reduction of impacts has been very limited.
Recommendation of the review
In response to these findings, two key actions are recommended:
- update data on the extent and impacts of dryland salinity
- target investment of public and private funds in four key areas: information, governance, innovation and investment.
For more information
Email the contact below or download the report – A new direction for salinity management in Western Australia: A consultative review.