Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32
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SALINITY INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK INTERIM REPORT – PHASE I SLUI 32 2003 Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32 SALINITY INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK INTERIM REPORT — PHASE I prepared by Resource Science Division Department of Environment DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT SALINITY AND LAND USE IMPACTS REPORT No SLUI 32 OCTOBER 2003 i Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32 Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series Acknowledgments This report was prepared by Damien McAlinden, Tim Sparks, Don Burnside and Louise Stelfox. This report is also based on a compilation of work completed by a group of dedicated people listed in Sections 1.1.1 and 1.1.2. The Salinity Investment Framework Steering Committee acknowledges with gratitude the assistance provided by the following people and organisations: • The Natural Resource Management Council for its support and encouragement of the process • Members and staff of the Avon Catchment Council for their support for the process and their assistance in organising the regional workshops • Staff from the Departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Land Management, and Environment for their assistance with data assemblage, analyses and presentation • Staff from the University of Western Australia for their assistance with establishing the methodology to be used in the Salinity Investment Framework For more information contact: Louise Stelfox Resource Science Division 3 Plain Street EAST PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6004 Telephone (08) 9278 0300 Facsimile (08) 9278 0586 Recommended reference The recommended reference for this publication is: Department of Environment 2003, Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report – Phase I, 2003, Department of Environment, Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series No. SLUI 32. We welcome your feedback A publication feedback form can be found at the back of this publication, or online at www.environment.wa.gov.au/public/feedback/ ISBN 1-920849-53-X ISSN 1447-7394 October 2003 Cover Photograph: Pink Lakes, Quairading Photograph courtesy of Viv Read ii Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32 Foreword Managing salinity is a huge job that will continue for decades. However, our resources in terms of money, people, and time are limited. These resources to counter salinity are contributed by individuals, community groups, governments and private organisations. If we are to do the best for current and future generations, we need to invest these resources wisely to save our most important natural assets. Like anyone on a limited budget, we need to make sure we are spending our time and money effectively, and on the most essential items. We need a consistent, practical way of setting priorities to determine which of our prized natural assets are most at risk and could feasibly be restored, or saved from the effects of salinity. This is where the Salinity Investment Framework comes in. This framework is a new way of determining natural resource management (NRM) spending priorities to help manage salinity. For some time, allocation of public funds into salinity management has been problematic. There is so much to do and resources are limited. Communities have been looking for guidance about how to proceed. Individual landholders want to know how their efforts contribute to local or regional outcomes. In 2002, the Minister for the Environment, Dr Judy Edwards, accepted a recommendation from the (then) State Salinity Council to commission a project to develop a process for determining how priorities can be set for investment of resources in salinity management — termed the Salinity Investment Framework. The general aim is to ensure that public investment is directed to projects with the best potential to protect assets of high public value that are at threat from salinity. The project has received government funding and has been managed by the Salinity Investment Framework Steering Committee, which comprises senior government and community people with specialist salinity knowledge. This report describes the work done to date in turning a concept into a sound process that will help focus our investment in salinity management. However, it is still a work in progress. For these reasons, it is termed an ‘Interim Report’. Further work will include determining the feasibility of protecting assets of high public value, the priority to be placed on developing technologies for salinity management, and how the process can operate at regional and local scales. On behalf of the Salinity Investment Framework Steering Committee, I thank the many people in government agencies, community groups, universities and private organisations who have contributed to the work reported here. In particular, I thank the Avon communities and the Avon Catchment Council for their willingness to be involved in the process and for their contributions to the work. I encourage people to get involved in the continuing work in investment planning at state, regional and local scales. This is important work for us all. I commend the report to you. Rachel Siewert Chairperson, Salinity Investment Framework Steering Committee Member, Natural Resource Management Council October 2003 iii Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32 Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series Contents Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... ii Reference details ...................................................................................................... ii Foreword .................................................................................................................... iii Executive summary ................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 4 1.1 A clear position on salinity and its management .................................. 5 1.2 Developing an investing framework ........................................................ 5 1.3 The Salinity Investment Framework (SIF) Project ............................... 6 1.4 Project objectives and outcomes ............................................................. 7 1.5 Project management ................................................................................... 8 1.5.1 The Steering Committee .............................................................................8 1.5.2 The Project Teams ......................................................................................8 1.6 This Report ..................................................................................................... 9 2 Setting priorities for investment in salinity management — the approach ...................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Managing assets impacted by salinity — definitions, principles and processes ............................................................................................. 10 2.1.1 Defining assets, threats and feasibility ...................................................... 11 2.1.2 Principles................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 The process of setting priorities – six steps .............................................. 11 2.1.4 Relating goals, asset importance and priorities for action at state, regional and local scales ...........................................................................12 2.2 Developing a methodology ...................................................................... 13 2.2.1 A simple conceptual model .......................................................................13 2.2.2 Determining asset value, threat and feasibility..........................................14 2.2.3 Value–threat matrix ...................................................................................15 iv Salinity and Land Use Impacts Series Salinity Investment Framework Interim Report — Phase 1 SLUI 32 2.3 Implementation — asset clauses and information sources ............ 16 2.3.1 Deciding assets classes ............................................................................16 2.3.2 Information for assessing asset values and threats ..................................17 2.3.3 Obtaining regional views ...........................................................................17 2.3.4 The workshops ..........................................................................................18 2.4 Further actions required ........................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Multiple values and spatial analysis — the ‘pizza approach’ ....................19 2.4.2 Feasibility information ...............................................................................19 2.4.3 Completing the work of state, regional and local scales ...........................20 2.4.4 Making an investment decision .................................................................20 2.4.5 Public investment into private assets ........................................................21 2.4.6 Managing public resource allocation at state scale...................................21 2.5 Summary ...................................................................................................... 22 3 Biodiversity assets — South West Agricultural