Groundwater salinity, desalination equipment and practices applicable to the rangelands pastoral industry: A review
Groundwater salinity, desalination equipment and practices applicable to the rangelands pastoral industry: A review Report
DKCRC Working Paper
- Author(s): De Vries, D
- Published: 2008
- Publisher: Desert Knowledge CRC
- Volume: 16
Abstract: Key points • There are significant gaps in information on groundwater quality in arid pastoral lands and in its accessibility for pastoralists. Interviews with pastoralists indicated that placement of new bores was based primarily on local knowledge (particularly of the bore drilling team) rather than use of a database. • In interviews with pastoralists and equipment suppliers/installers/maintainers, the damage to pastoral infrastructure caused by salinity in water was not presented as a major problem. • Decline in animal condition and health would be expected for water supplies containing total dissolved salts in the range 5–10 000 mg/ml for cattle and 10 000–13 000 mg/ ml for sheep. • The key issue for reproductive success and growth in sheep reliant on saline drinking water is the survival of the 3–5 month old animal through the heat of the first summer. • An important consequence of provision of saline drinking water through summer is that stock can graze only a very limited distance from watering points, resulting in adverse effects on stock food access and land degradation. • No desalination systems are in use by the pastoral industry due to their prohibitive purchase costs and energy requirements. • Hire of a reverse osmosis desalination system may be cost effective to enable a flock/herd to get through a dry summer.
Notes: The WaterSmart Pastoralism™ Literature Reviews
- Urls: http://www.nintione.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Working-Paper-16-WaterSmart-Lit-Reviews_Salinity.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20180320082020/http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Working-Paper-16-WaterSmart-Lit-Reviews_Salinity.pdf
- Publisher Location: Alice Springs
- Keywords: Groundwater salinity, desalination equipment, rangeland, pastoral industry, pastoral land, DKCRC Working Paper