DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND LAND MANAGEMENT Murray-Billabong Catchments Volume 1 Proposals for the integrated management of soil erosion and related land degradation Author: Stuart Lucas Editor: Keith Emery MURRAY -BILLABONG CATCHMENTS (NSW) Volume 1 Proposals for the integrated management of soil erosion and related land degradation Financed through the National Soil Conservation Program, the NSW Department of Conservation and Land Management and the Murray Total Catchment Management Committee. Acknowledgments This report, and associated maps and statistics, are the result of a project funded by the National Soil Conservation Program and the Department of Conservation and Land Management. The results have depended to a large extent on assistance provided by the Program supervisor, Mr Keith Emery, and work colleagues Ms Lindy Brown, Mr Scott Taylor, Mr Bruce Peasly and Mr Fred De Closey. The author is indebted to CaLM staff, particularly those from the Albury and Henty District Offices and Wagga Regional Office. A very special thanks to the operators of the GIS at Wagga Wagga and Sydney who met the challenge of this demanding program. Thanks are also due to staff of other Agencies and groups including NSW Agriculture at the Albury, Lockhart and Wagga Wagga Offices, and the various Landcare representatives and members too numerous to list. Special thanks to Mrs Margaret Thompson, who worked beyond her normal duties in the production of this report, Albury District staff, Ms Pauline Cain of Head Office for her work in formatting and setting out the document. Further thanks to Mr Tony Dawson and Mr Gerry Ryan for providing several of the photos presented, and Ms Mandy Locke for proof reading the report. Acronyms and Abbreviations used BGATF Blue-Green Algal Task Force CaLM NSW Department of Conservation and Land Management CMU Catchment Management Unit DWR Department of Water Resources EPA Environment Protection Authority GIS Geographic Information System MDBMC Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council NSCP National Soil Conservation Program RTA Roads and Traffic Authority scs Soil Conservation Service of NSW SF State Forest SPCC State Pollution Control Commission SRA State Rail Authority CONTENTS Page No Volume 1 SUMMARY 1 MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS 3 1. INTRODUCTION 5 1 .1 BACKGROUND 5 1.2 THE STUDY AREA 7 1.3 AIMS OF THE REPORT 7 1.4 DEFINITION OF LAND DEGRADATION 8 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA 9 2.1 LOCATION 9 2.2 PHYSIOGRAPHY 9 2.3 CLIMATE 9 2.4 PLANT GROWTH 9 2.5 GEOLOGY 9 2.6 SOILS 10 2.7 LAND USE 10 2.8 NATIVE VEGETATION 10 3. LAND RESOURCE INFORMATION 13 3.1 SOURCES USED IN THIS REPORT 13 3.1.1 N.S.W. Land Degradation Survey {1987-88) 13 3.1.2 Rural Land Capability Mapping 13 3.1.3 Soil Erosion and Land Use Survey 14 3.1.4 Protected Lands Mapping 16 3.1.5 Land Tenure 16 3.2 MAPS AND STATISTICS 17 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION 19 4.1 INITIAL ANALYSIS 19 4.2 INTEGRATED TREATMENT OF LAND DEGRADATION ISSUES 20 4.2.1 Ranking Techniques and Priorities 22 5. PROPOSALS FOR THE TREATMENT OF LAND DEGRADATION 39 5.1 DRYLAND SALINITY AND WATERLOGGING 39 5.1.1 Nature of Problem 39 5.1.2 Extent and Severity 39 5.1.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 43 5.1.4 What is Known About Its Treatment? 46 5.1.5 Recommendations for Treatment 48 5.2 TREE DECLINE 53 5.2.1 Nature of Problem 53 5.2.2 Where are the Main Areas of Trees? 53 5.2.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 56 5.2.4 What is Known About Maintaining Tree Cover? 59 5.2.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Tree Decline 62 5.3 INDUCED SOIL ACIDITY 67 5.3.1 Nature of Problem 67 5.3.2 Extent and Severity of Soil Acidity 67 5.3.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 71 5.3.4 What is Known About Its Treatment? 72 5.3.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Soil Acidity 74 5.4 STREAMBANK EROSION 77 5.4.1 Nature of Problem 77 5.4.2 Extent and Severity of Streambank Erosion 77 5.4.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 77 5.4.4 What is Known About Its Treatment? 82 5.4.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Streambank Erosion 84 5.5 SOIL EROSION 87 5.5.1 Nature of Problem 87 5.5.2 Where Does Soil Erosion Occur? 88 5.5.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 96 5.5.4 What is known About Treating Soil Erosion? 98 5.5.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Soil Erosion 106 5.6 SOIL PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROBLEMS 109 5.6.1 Nature of Problems 109 5.6.2 Where are the Major Areas with Soil Physical and Chemical Problems? 109 5.6.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 110 5.6.4 What is Known About Their Treatment? 111 5.6.5 Recommendations for Treatment 112 5.7 STEEP LANDS 115 5.7.1 Nature of Problems 115 5.7.2 Where are the Steep Lands? 115 5.7.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 116 5.7.4 What is Known About Managing Steep Lands? 119 5.7.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Steep Lands 120 5.8 WIND EROSION 123 5.8.1 Nature of Problem 123 5.8.2 Where Does Wind Erosion Occur? 123 5.8.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 124 5.8.4 What is Known About Managing Wind Erosion? 124 5.8.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Wind Erosion 125 5.9 MAJOR LAND USE CHANGES 127 5.9.1 Nature of Problem 127 5.9.2 Where are Pine Plantations being Established? 127 5.9.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 129 5.9.4 What is Known About Managing Major Land Use Changes? 129 5.9.5 Recommendations for Treatment 134 5.10 SPECIALISED LAND USES 135 5.1 0.1 Nature of Problem 135 5.10.2 Where Do They Occur? 135 5.10.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 136 5.1 0.4 What is Known About Treating These Problems? 137 5.10.5 Recommendations for Treatment 138 5.11 WATER QUALITY DECLINE 139 5.11.1 Nature of Problem 139 5.11.2 Occurrence and Severity 139 5.11.3 Relationships with Other Physical Factors 140 5.11.4 What is Known About Maintaining Water Quality? 140 5.11.5 Recommendations for Treatment of Water Quality Decline 141 6. REFERENCES 143 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 The Study Area on a 1 : 1 00 000 Sheet Basis 7 2 Rural Land Capability in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 14 3 Land Use in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 15 4 Land Tenure in Hume Weir Catchment 16 5 Summary of Land Degradation in Murray CMU's 23 6 Summary of Land Degradation in Billabong CMU's 24 7 Land Degradation Ranked for Murray-Billabong CMU's 25 8 CMU's with Expanding Salinity and Major Gully Erosion 26 9 CMU's with Expanding Salinity/High Watertables/Waterlogging 27 10 CMU's with Major Gully Erosion 30 11 CMU's with Extensive Streambank Erosion 32 12 CMU's with Major Tree Decline 36 13 Dryland Salinity in the Murray-Billabong on a Class Basis 40 14 Areas of Dryland Salinity in CMU's 40 15 Salinity Readings in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 42 16 Summary of Local Bore Survey Findings 43 17 Forest Cover in the Murray Catchment 55 18 Forest Cover in the Billabong Catchment 55 19 Actual Tree Cover Compared with Preferred Tree Cover 57 20 Comparison of Tree Cover and Land Capability 58 21 Estimates of Soil Acidity in Southern Australia 70 22 Streambank Erosion in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 76 23 Map Sheets with Significant Streambank Erosion 78 24 Streambank Erosion in Murray CMU's 79 25 Streambank Erosion in Billabong CMU's 80 26 Sheet and Rill Erosion in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 88 27 Sheet and Rill Erosion in Murray CMU's 91 28 Sheet and Rill Erosion in Billabong CMU's 92 29 Major Gully Erosion in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 93 30 Lengths and Densities of Major Gullies on Selected 1:1 00 000 Sheets 93 31 Major Gully Erosion in Murray CMU's 95 32 Major Gully Erosion in Billabong CMU's 95 33 Mass Movement in Murray-Billabong Catchments 116 34 Pine Plantations in the Murray and Billabong Catchments 128 35 Land Use in the Coppabella Creek Catchment 128 36 Unaccounted Clearing in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 129 37 Erosion in the Coppabella Creek Catchment 130 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page No 1 The Murray-Billabong Catchments 6 2 Location of Specified Catchment Management Units 21 3 Salinity in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 41 4 Forest Cover in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 52 5 Soil Acidity in Relation to Rainfall 68 6 Acidity in Topsoil and Subsoil Layers 69 7 Streambank Erosion in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 76 8 Sheet Erosion Hazard in the Murray-Billabong 90 9 Gully Erosion in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 94 10 Steep Lands in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 117 11 Pine Plantations in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 126 LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A Rural Land Capability 149 APPENDIX B Aerial Photographs Used in the Survey 150 APPENDIX C Soil Erosion Mapping Attributes 151 APPENDIX D Example: Output Available for Catchment Management Units 152 APPENDIX E Treatment of Salinity and Rising Watertables 157 APPENDIX F Overclearing - Processes Involved and Affects 158 APPENDIX G Preferred Tree Cover in Relation to Land Capability 159 APPENDIX H Benefits of Retaining Trees 160 APPENDIX I Corridor Objective (Kyeamba) 161 APPENDIX J Assessing Tree Cover 162 APPENDIX K Acid Addition Rates for Agricultural Systems 163 APPENDIX l Streambank Erosion on a 1:100 000 Sheet Basis 164 APPENDIX M Prescribed Streams in the Murray-Billabong Catchments 165 APPENDIX N Interim Riparian Zone Policy (DWR) 166 APPENDIX 0 Role of the Riparian Zone 167 APPENDIX P Effects of River Regulation 168 APPENDIX Q Sheet and Rill Erosion Breakdown 169 APPENDIX R Major Gully Erosion on a 1:100 000 Sheet Basis 171 APPENDIX S A History of Poor Groundcover 172 APPENDIX T Drought Management 173 SUMMARY Land degradation mapping projects carried out from 1989-92 by staff of the Soil Conservation Service of NSW have been used to identify the location, extent and severity of soil erosion and other forms of land degradation within the major drainage systems of the Murray-Darling Basin within New South Wales.