Research Library Books & book chapters Research Publications 2002 Salinity in the classrom, a resource for Western Australian Schools Department of Agriculture, Western Australia Department of Education, Western Australia State Salinity Council, Western Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/books Part of the Hydrology Commons, and the Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Department of Education, Western Australia, and State Salinity Council, Western Australia. (2002), Salinity in the classrom, a resource for Western Australian Schools. Department of Agriculture, Perth, W.A.. Book. This book is brought to you for free and open access by the Research Publications at Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Books & book chapters by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Salinity in the Salinity in the ClassrClassroom oom A resource for Western Australian schools Department of Agriculture Water and Rivers Commission Salinity in the Classroom A Western Australian educational resource for teachers and students of the Early, Middle Childhood and Early Adolescent phases of learning. Department of Agriculture Introduction Salinity in the Classroom Page I ISBN 0-7307-7618-2 Copies of this resource can be obtained from: Department of Agriculture, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth 6151, Western Australia In relying on or using this document or any advice or information expressly or impliedly contained within it, you accept all risks and responsibility for loss, injury, damages, costs and other consequences of any kind whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly to you or any other person from your doing so. It is for you to obtain your own advice and conduct your own investigations and assessments of any proposals that you may be considering in light of your own circumstances. Further, the State of Western Australia, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture, the Agriculture Protection Board, the authors, the publisher and their officers, employees and agents, do not warrant the accuracy, currency, reliability or correctness of this document or any advice or information expressly or impliedly contained within it; and, exclude all liability of any kind whatsoever to any person arising directly or indirectly from reliance on or the use of this document or any advice or information expressly or impliedly contained within it by you or any other person. Introduction Salinity in the Classroom Introduction Salinity in the Classroom Page II Page III Foreword Salinity is a natural part of the landscape of south western Australia. Before European settlement there were chains of salt lakes and many of the inland rivers contained pools of salty water. Early in the development of the land for agriculture an increase in the salinity of dams and soaks used for household and stock water was noticed in the Northam district. The Government Analyst at the time, Mr E A Mann, suggested in 1907 that the increases in salinity might have been due to replacing the perennial natural vegetation with annual crops and pastures. In advice to a farmer he recommended that replanting the native vegetation might fix the problem. The railway engineers in the early 1900s were the first to take the problem of increasing salinity seriously. They had to ensure that there were supplies of good quality water for the steam engines. Throughout the developing agricultural areas this water came from dams. As the catchment areas for these dams were cleared the engineers observed that the salinity of the dam water increased. It was a railway engineer, Mr W E Wood who, in 1924, published a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia detailing the cause of increased salinity in the agricultural regions. Increasing salinisation of agricultural land and inland waters is a major problem, not only in Western Australia, but in all other states and in many countries throughout the world. In WA salinity caused by replacing the natural vegetation with agricultural crops and pastures now affects about two million hectares of the 18 million hectares of agricultural land. Unless the spread of salinity can be contained it is predicted that it could eventually affect six million hectares, or 30% of the agricultural land. Unlike many land degradation problems associated with agriculture, increasing salinity has serious effects beyond the farm gate. It causes increases in stream salinity and has made many of the rivers in the South-West unsuitable for water supplies; increasing salinity affects the native vegetation in low lying parts of the landscape and it is predicted that about 450 plant species in the wheatbelt are threatened with extinction if salinity continues to expand. As well as affecting the natural environment, salinity is affecting many of our rural towns by causing buildings to crumble. It also significantly increases the cost of maintaining roads. While the cause of salinity is well understood, and we know in principle what has to be done to reduce the spread of the problem, we still do not have solutions that we can afford to apply across the agricultural landscape. There is no simple solution. While salinity will not cause the end of agriculture in WA it will continue to be a major problem for decades. It is important that everyone in WA understands the problem and the difficulties faced, not only by farmers but also by the whole community, in controlling it. We owe it to future generations that we do our best in managing this problem. Learning about salinity, its causes, its significance and its management is the start of the process of doing our best. Dr Bob Nulsen Manager, Natural Resources Department of Agriculture Introduction Salinity in the Classroom Introduction Salinity in the Classroom Page II Page III Acknowledgments Authors Section One, written by Gael Bell, Department of Agriculture and Kevin Brady, Department of Education WA. Section Two compiled, adapted, edited and written by Don Crawford, State Salinity Council of WA, David Bicknell, Bruce Radys, Kristy Chandler and Anne Jones, Department of Agriculture. Section Three written and compiled by Carolyn Weaver, Department of Education and Gael Bell, Department of Agriculture. Section Four compiled and adapted by Gael Bell with assistance from Elizabeth Yuncken, Department of Agriculture. Section Five written and compiled by Don Crawford, State Salinity Council of WA, David Bicknell and Gael Bell, Department of Agriculture. ‘Bilbies, salinity & A Question of Balance’ written by Gael Bell and Bruce Radys, Department of Agriculture. Illustrated by Joy Killian and John Goodlad, Albany, WA. The Department of Agriculture, the State Salinity Council of Western Australia, Alcoa World Alumina Australia, Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd and the Water and Rivers Commission would like to acknowledge the assistance in the production of this resource by: Gail Baker Garry Heady and Terry Roberts for permission to Department of Education use extracts from ‘Investigate the Catchment with Detective Crow’. Fairbridge Eco Project. Pinjarra, Kevin Brady Western Australia, 1999. Department of Education NSW Agriculture and Salt Action for permission to use Michael Burke extracts from ‘A Taste of Salt. Rivers, Catchments and Department of Education Salinity’, 1999. Sue McKenna Salt Action Victoria for permission to use extracts from Department of Conservation & Land Management ‘Saltwatch Curriculum Package’, 1991. Arlene Moncrieff Queensland Department of Primary Industries for Greening Australia, Western Australia permission to use and adapt activities from ‘Catchment Care’ Information for teachers and students activities. Alex Waterhouse Queensland, 1991. Water & Rivers Commission Quentin Beresford, Hugo Bekle, Harry Phillips and Permission was kindly granted by the following Jane Mulcock for permission to use extracts from their agencies to reproduce and adapt worksheets and book ‘The salinity crisis: landscapes, communities and activities in Sections Three and Four. politics’, University of Western Australia Press, 2001. Department of Agriculture, for permission to use NSW Agriculture for permission to use extracts from extracts from ‘Landcare In Your Hands’. Department ‘Dryland Salinity – The Farmers Guide’. of Agriculture, Ministry of Education WA, National Soil Conservation Program, Alcoa Landcare project, 1991. National Land & Water Resources Audit for permission to use extracts from ‘Australian Dryland Salinity Tilwin Westrup for use of ‘The Salty Licorice Taste Test’, Assessment 2000’. 2000. Department of Agriculture. Department of Agriculture, Western Australia for Tammin Alcoa Landcare Education Centre for permission to use extracts from ‘Extent and Impacts permission to use the ‘Raining Tennis Balls’ activity. of Dryland Salinity’ 2001. Resource Management Tammin Alcoa, Shire of Tammin and the Department of Technical Report 202. Education. Professor Phil Cocks for permission to use his diagram Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands, on water use. Victoria, 1989 for permission to use extracts from ‘Our Land. Landcare Activities for Upper Primary School GRDC for sponsorship support in securing the video Students’. ‘Salt of the Earth’. Department of Natural Resources and Environment. ‘Catchment Education Resource Book. An Educational Resource for Primary and Secondary