scholarly journals Hydrological and water-use efficiency implications of geomorphological stratification in palæochannels in the Northern Murray–Darling Basin

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. Vanags ◽  
R. W. Vervoort
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Soil Sampling ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Complex Behaviour ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Complex Relationships

Regional climactic variability coupled with an increasing demand on water has placed an even greater pressure on managers to understand the complex relationships between surface water and groundwater in the Murray–Darling Basin. Based on limited soil sampling combined with geophysical observations, past research has suggested that relic subsurface drainage features (also known as palæochannels) have a higher risk of deep drainage and lateral flow, particularly where water is impounded or applied as irrigation. The aim of this study was to investigate the hydrological behaviour of an irrigated 25-ha site in North-western New South Wales in more detail to predict deep drainage risk in the presence of palæochannel systems. Several years of direct and indirect observations, including soil sampling and groundwater measures, were collected. Coupling the field data with one- and two-dimensional water balance models revealed a more complex behaviour where a palæochannel functions like a large underground drain. In contrast to other studies, this study suggests that the actual palæochannel does not pose a higher drainage risk, but the combination of the palæochannels with the surroundings soils does have a higher deep drainage risk.

Persistence and water use efficiency of a tropical grass and lucerne on a solodic soil on the Far North-West Slopes of New South Wales

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
PG Tow
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
North West ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
Spring Temperatures ◽  
Use Efficiency

The persistence and water use efficiency of Digitaria eriantha spp. eriantha and Hunter river lucerne were compared on red solodic soil with a hardsetting surface and poor internal drainage, on the North- West Slopes of New South Wales. After prolonged watering, the profile was wet to a depth of 48 � 1.5 cm, with an available moisture store of 90 mm. Over 3 years, persistence of digitaria was excellent. The population of lucerne was reduced following flooding at summer temperatures, Dry matter production of nitrogen (N) fertilised digitaria per mm warm season rainfall was similar to that of tropical grasses adapted to comparable rainfall environments in subtropical Queensland. Lucerne dry matter per mm rainfall was only about half that of digitaria (3.2 v. 6.3 kg). Lucerne grew well in mixture with digitaria except under prolonged wet soil conditions in summer. Artificial solodic profiles were constructed in the glasshouse to compare digitaria and lucerne in monoculture and mixture under varying temperature, moisture, and N regimes. Lucerne showed sensitivity to both high and low moisture levels at summer temperatures but performed very well at spring temperatures and moderate moisture levels where the mean evapotranspiration ratio was 400 g water per g dry matter. Water use efficiency was higher in digitaria than in lucerne, except at spring temperatures without added N. Water use efficiency of the mixture was always similar to that of the most efficient monoculture of the particular treatment.

Fingerprinting windblown dust in south-eastern Australian soils by uranium-lead dating of detrital zircon

Soil Research ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn D. Gatehouse ◽  
I. S. Williams ◽  
B. J. Pillans
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New South ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Uranium Lead Dating ◽  
Eastern Highlands

The U-Pb ages of fine-grained zircon separated from 2 dust-dominated soils in the eastern highlands of south-eastern Australia and measured by ion microprobe (SHRIMP) revealed a characteristic age ‘fingerprint’ from which the source of the dust has been determined and by which it will be possible to assess the contribution of dust to other soil profiles. The 2 soils are dominated by zircon 400–600 and 1000–1200 Ma old, derived from Palaeozoic granites and sediments of the Lachlan Fold Belt, but also contain significant components 100–300 Ma old, characteristic of igneous rocks in the New England Fold Belt in northern New South Wales and Queensland. This pattern closely matches that of sediments of the Murray-Darling Basin, especially the Mallee dunefield, suggesting that weathering of rocks in the eastern highlands has contributed large quantities of sediment to the arid and semi-arid inland basins via internally draining rivers of the present and past Murray–Darling River systems, where it has formed a major source of dust subsequently blown eastwards and deposited in the highland soils of eastern Australia.

Scattered native trees and soil patterns in grazing land on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia

Soil Research ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Wilson ◽  
Ivor Growns ◽  
John Lemon
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Grazing Land ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Canopy Effect

Over large areas of south-eastern Australia, the original cover of native woodland has been extensively cleared or modified, and what remains is often characterised by scattered trees beneath which the ground-storey vegetation is largely grazed or otherwise managed. This study investigated the influence of scattered Blakely’s red gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi) trees on both near-surface and deeper soil layers in temperate grazed pastures on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. A significant canopy effect was observed with elevated soil pH, carbon, and nutrient status inside the tree canopy indicating soil enrichment in a zone around the tree. This effect, however, was largely restricted to the surface (0–0.20 m) soil layers. Chloride concentrations were elevated near to trees but only in the deeper soil layers, suggesting that a modified water use and deep drainage mechanism occurred near the trees. Close to the tree, however, a significant acidification was observed between 0.40–0.60 m depth in the soil, without any obvious depletion in other soil element concentrations. It is concluded that this acidification provides strong evidence in support of a ‘biological pumping’ mechanism that has been proposed elsewhere. Key questions remain as to the management implications of these results, whether the subsurface acidification that was observed is common among native Australian trees, if it might be persistent through time, and if this might be a soil issue that requires management.

Water-use efficiency on irrigated dairy farms in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales

2000 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Armstrong ◽  
J. E. Knee ◽  
P. T. Doyle ◽  
K. E. Pritchard ◽  
O. A. Gyles
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Large Range ◽  
New South ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
High Water ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Use Efficiency

A survey of 170 randomly selected, irrigated, dairy farms in northern Victoria and 9 in southern New South Wales was conducted to examine and benchmark the key factors influencing water-use efficiency. Water-use efficiency was defined as the amount of milk (kg milk fat plus protein) produced from pasture per megalitre of water (irrigation plus effective rainfall). Information on water-use, milk production, supplementary feeding, farm size and type, pasture management, and irrigation layout and management was collected for each farm by personal interview for the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. The farms were ranked in the order of water-use efficiency with the average farm compared with the highest and lowest 10% of farms. The range in water-use efficiency was 25–115 kg milk fat plus protein/ML, with the highest 10% averaging 94 kg/ML and the lowest 10% averaging 35 kg/ML. The large range in water-use efficiency indicated potential for substantial improvement on many farms. The high water-use efficiency farms, when compared with the low group: (i) produced a similar amount of milk from less water (387 v. 572 ML) (P<0.05), less land (48 v. 83 ha) (P< 0.05) and a similar number of cows (152 v. 143 cows); (ii) had higher estimated pasture consumption per hectare (11.5 v. 5.5 t DM/ha) (P<0.01) and per megalitre (1.0 v. 0.5 t DM/ML) (P<0.01); (iii) had higher stocking rates (3.2 v. 1.8 cows/ha) (P<0.01); (iv) used higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser (59 v. 18 kg N/ha.year) (P<0.05) and tended to use more phosphorus fertiliser (64 v. 34 kg P/ha.year) (P<0.10); (v) used similar levels of supplementary feed (872 v. 729 kg concentrates/cow); (vi) had higher milk production per cow (396 v. 277 kg fat plus protein) (P<0.05); and (vii) directed a higher proportion of the estimated energy consumed by cows into milk production (53 v. 46%) (P<0.05). The survey data confirmed that irrigated dairy farm systems are complex and variable. For example, the amount of feed brought in from outside the milking area varied from 0 to 74% of the estimated total energy used by a milking herd. There was a large range in the level of supplement input amongst the farms in the high water-use efficiency group, and in the low water-use efficiency group. This indicates that the management of the farming system has a greater impact on the efficiency of water-use on irrigated dairy farms, than the type of system. The data from the survey provide information for individual farms, a measure of the water-use efficiency of the industry, and an indication of the quality of regional land and water resources.

The impact of pasture development and grazing on water-yielding catchments in the Murray - Darling Basin in south-eastern Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 817 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Johnston ◽  
D. L. Garden ◽  
A. Rančić ◽  
T. B. Koen ◽  
K. B. Dassanayake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Wagga Wagga ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Productivity Gain ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
The Impact

Experiments conducted from November 1996 to June 2002 in adjacent small catchments near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, compared the productivity and hydrology of a heavily fertilised (about 30 kg phosphorus/ha.year) Phalaris aquatica (phalaris) pasture with that of a lightly fertilised (about 14 kg phosphorus/ha every second year) native grassland that contained a mixture of C3 and C4 perennial grasses, dominantly C4 Bothriochloa macra (redgrass).In summer, the native catchment was dominated by C4 perennial grasses while the phalaris catchment was dominated by annual C4 weedy species. During the cooler months, the phalaris pasture contained higher proportions of Vulpia spp., and other less-desirable annual grasses. Throughout the experiment, the native catchment was dominated by redgrass, whereas in the phalaris catchment the persistence of phalaris declined. Redgrass became prominent on the more arid aspects of the phalaris catchment as the experiment progressed.Pasture production in the phalaris catchment was higher in most seasons than the native catchment, which resulted in an overall stocking rate advantage of about 80%. The productivity gain per unit of P input was 0.4 for the phalaris catchment compared with 1 for the native catchment, implying that phosphorus was applied to the phalaris catchment at an excessive rate.During wet periods the native catchment produced substantially more runoff than the phalaris catchment, while in dry times it developed substantially larger soil water deficits. Runoff from the phalaris catchment was higher in suspended and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus than for the native catchment. Higher runoff from the native catchment combined with its drier soil profile in summer indicated that its deep drainage potential was less than in the phalaris catchment.

The distribution of the introduced tapeworm Bothriocephalus acheilognathi in Australian freshwater fishes

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.D.M. Dove ◽  
A.S. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
New South ◽  
Parasite Fauna ◽  
New Host ◽  
Exotic Fishes ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Bothriocephalus Acheilognathi ◽  
Australian Freshwater ◽  
New Host Records

AbstractNative and exotic fishes were collected from 29 sites across coastal and inland New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, using a range of techniques, to infer the distribution of Bothriocephalus acheilognathi (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) and the host species in which it occurs. The distribution of B. acheilognathi was determined by that of its principal host, carp, Cyprinuscarpio; it did not occur at sites where carp were not present. The parasite was recorded from all native fish species where the sample size exceeded 30 and which were collected sympatrically with carp: Hypseleotris klunzingeri, Hypseleotris sp. 4, Hypseleotris sp. 5, Phylipnodon grandiceps and Retropinna semoni. Bothriocephalus acheilognathi was also recorded from the exotic fishes Gambusia holbrooki and Carassiusauratus. Hypseleotris sp. 4, Hypseleotris sp. 5, P. grandiceps, R. semoni and C. auratus are new host records. The parasite was not recorded from any sites in coastal drainages. The only carp population examined from a coastal drainage (Albert River, south-east Queensland) was also free of infection; those fish had a parasite fauna distinct from that of carp in inland drainages and may represent a separate introduction event. Bothriocephalus acheilognathi has apparently spread along with its carp hosts and is so far restricted to the Murray-Darling Basin. The low host specificity of this parasite is cause for concern given the threatened or endangered nature of some Australian native freshwater fish species. A revised list of definitive hosts of B. acheilognathiis presented.

Low rainfall rarely limits wheat yields in southern New South Wales

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
PS Cornish ◽  
GM Murray
Keyword(s):  
Triticum Aestivum ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Empirical Model ◽  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Wagga Wagga ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Use Efficiency

Alternative models were compared for predicting the yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) from water-use and water-use efficiency. A locally derived empirical model most closely predicted experimental yields at Wagga Wagga and was used to compute water-limited potential yields for the district surrounding Wagga Wagga for the period 1960-84. District yields were close to the predicted potential in dry years, but reached a plateau of about 2.0 t/ha regardless of rainfall and the water-limited potential yield. The yields were less than 50% of potential when water-use exceeded 300 mm, which occurred in 19 years between 1960 and 1984. Some individual farmer-yields approached the potential. These results are similar to others from South Australia. Together, they suggest that low rainfall does not directly limit yield in many years over much of the wheat belt of southern and south-eastern Australia. We suggest therefore that an analysis of the reasons for low yield on farms could lead to substantial increases in yield for many farmers.

If long fallow cropping is leaky then shallow groundwaters on the Liverpool Plains should be of recent origin

2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Young ◽  
A. Broughton ◽  
J. M. Bradd ◽  
J. F. Holland
Keyword(s):  
Cropping Systems ◽  
New South ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Recent Origin ◽  
Unexpected Outcome

Previous groundwater studies have indicated that up to 195 000 ha of the Liverpool Plains catchment, south of Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia, are at risk from shallow saline watertables. Replacement of hydraulically stable, native perennial grasslands with more ‘leaky’ annual cropping systems since the 1950s, particularly long fallow wheat–sorghum rotations, has been held responsible for an apparent increased frequency of shallow watertables and saline discharge. If so, then it follows that shallow groundwater in the alluvium will be recent (less than about 30 years old) and the solution to the problem is a straightforward reduction in deep drainage under farming systems via increased evapotranspiration. However, in this study, we have found levels of bomb pulse tritium in shallow groundwaters that indicate that about half of the shallow groundwaters in the Mooki subcatchment pre-date current agricultural practices. A hypothesis for this unexpected outcome suggests that the problem is complex and that solutions need to be site-specific.

The nature, distribution and management of sodic soils in New-South-Wales

Soil Research ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 839 ◽  
Author(s):  
DC Mckenzie ◽  
TS Abbott ◽  
KY Chan ◽  
PG Slavich ◽  
DJM Hall
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Clay Mineralogy ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Sodic Soils ◽  
Sodic Soil ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray Darling Basin

Accurate data on the distribution of the various types of sodic soils in New South Wales are not available. However, general observations suggest that large areas are affected by structural instability as a result of sodicity, particularly on grey clays and red-brown earths of the Murray-Darling Basin. There is a strong need for new sodicity surveys because the production of crops and pasture often is well below potential on these lands. Exchangeable sodium data on their own do not adequately describe sodic soil behaviour, so information is also required about related factors such as electrical conductivity, exchangeable magnesium, clay mineralogy, pH, calcium carbonate content, degree of remoulding, and the frequency of continuous stable macropores. Critical limits for sodicity that are used by soil management advisory services need to be redefined. Considerable research into the reclamation and management of sodic soils has occurred in the irrigation areas and rainfed cropping districts of the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales. Mined and by-product gypsum, and to a lesser extent lime, have been shown to greatly improve the physical condition and profitability of production from soils with a dispersive surface. However, the responses to these treatments are less likely to be economical when sodicity is confined to the subsoil. Adequate supplies of gypsum and lime are available in New South Wales, but further research is required to determine economically optimal and environmentally acceptable rates and frequencies of application, particle sizes and chemical compositions for different farming systems that utilize the various types of sodic soil.

Economics of Salinity Effects from Irrigated Cotton: An Efficiency Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 1650002
Author(s):  
M. A. Samad Azad ◽  
Tihomir Ancev
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
New South ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Environmental Performance Index ◽  
Irrigation Technology ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Targeted Approach

Using an environmentally adjusted performance measurement the study evaluates the tradeoffs between the benefits derived from irrigated cotton enterprises and its associated environmental damages. Deep drainage, which adds to the aquifer recharge and thereby contributes to salinization, is treated as an environmentally detrimental output. The analysis includes data collected from a sample of 53 observations in the Mooki Catchment located in northern New South Wales, Australia. Environmentally adjusted efficiency of cotton enterprises is estimated using the environmental performance index (EPI) and relative efficiency rankings are determined for each of the considered cotton areas in the catchment. The findings reveal that environmentally adjusted efficiency of irrigated cotton is within an acceptable range (more than 60% of observations have an EPI efficiency score of greater than 5). The efficiency variation among the observations based on hydrological response units (HRUs) can be attributed to a number of reasons including physical factors (i.e., soil quality, topography), type of irrigation technology used, and other environmental factors. For instance, the overall efficiencies of downstream HRUs are higher than that of upstream HRUs. Therefore, biophysical characteristics of an area need to be incorporated in the efficiency model. With the identification of the most and least efficient cotton irrigation areas in the region, policymakers can construct a relative ranking to best determine policy directions in order to take a more targeted approach towards salinity mitigation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document