| Preliminary
Project Proposal |
To: |
Avon Working Group,
State Salinity Council Community Support Program 2000,
PO Box 311, NORTHAM 6401. |
| |
|
| 1.
NAME OF APPLICANT (GROUP ETC): |
| |
Mount
Marshall Land Conservation District Committee
|
| 2.
POSTAL ADDRESS |
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c/o
John Dunne, PO Box 45, BEACON WA 6472
|
| 3.
CONTACT PERSON |
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Position
in group Chairman
Contact address PO Box 45, BEACON WA 6472
Phone, fax, email 9686 1045 (Ph), 9686 1005 (Fax), parakeelya@wn.com.au
|
| 4.
PROJECT TITLE |
| |
Beacon
River Catchment Salinity Management Project
|
| 5.
LOCATION OF PROJECT |
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The
Beacon River Catchment is located within the Avon Catchment of the
Avon River Basin as shown on the attached markup of Department of
Agriculture map “Shires of the Avon River Basin”.
|
| 6.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE |
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Project
Description
This proposal outlines a community-based project to combat salinity
in the Beacon River Catchment in the Shire of Mount Marshall and
extending into the northern part of the Shire of Mukinbudin. The
project aims to address the effects of rising groundwater within
the context of the State Salinity Strategy and the Regional Strategy
as outlined in the Avon Working Group’s (AWG) Draft Natural
Resources Management Plan. State
Salinity Strategy Issues Addressed
The project aims to adopt a range of actions at catchment scale:
• to reduce the rate of degradation of productive agricultural
land;
• to rehabilitate or manage salt affected land;
• to protect and restore the key water resources of the
catchment;
• to protect and restore the natural vegetation and higher
value wetlands of the catchment;
• to provide the affected community with the means to address
salinity issues and to manage the consequent changes;
• to protect public and private infrastructure affected
by salinity.
|
| |
Regional
Context - Relevance to the Avon River Basin
The project will provide a structure for managing hydrologic change
within the Beacon River catchment and through community participation
in the scheme, will assist in accelerating the adoption of more
sustainable land use practices The scheme will provide a proving
ground for approaches and practices that may be adopted on a wider
scale throughout the Avon Basin.
The project has been formulated to:
• to improve surface and ground water management at sub-catchment
scale;
• to improve soil health to retain sustainable agricultural
productivity;
• to improve economic return by promoting robust land uses;
• to conserve and manage remnant natural ecosystems;
• to maintain usable water resources for the benefit of the
community;
• to conserve native species and ecological communities in
natural habitats;
• to maintain representative samples of the natural physical
diversity of the catchment.
Each of these elements has been addressed in the preparation and
planning for this project. The proposed scheme has the aim of enhancing
the capability of salt affected and salt-threatened land within
the catchment. The project will enable better management of remnant
bushand and wetlands to facilitate protection and enhancement of
remaining natural habitats and biodiversity.
|
| |
Actions
The project will adopt a phased approach to treat rising watertable
by implementing a range of management methods including modified
land use practices, strategic revegetation, shallow drainage to
manage recharge, deep drainage and relief bores to manage groundwater
levels. Some of these actions are already being implemented within
the catchment, but a more widespread application is proposed within
this project.
The project includes development of an employment and training scheme
to assist in providing the technical skills required to meet these
fundamental land and water management challenges. It is intended
that such a scheme shall include a strong involvement for the indigenous
people of the region.
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| |
Outcomes
The primary outcome sought by this project is general reduction
in groundwater levels within the salt affected land of the Beacon
River Catchment. Recharge reduction will be addressed through the
various land management practices. Drawdown will be facilitated
by relief bores and deep drains conveying saline water to discharge
sites. The reliance on relief bores will decrease as vegetation
cover increases and cultivation methods adapt to more sustainable
techniques.
Ongoing community involvement and co-operation through the LCDC
will ensure long term management and monitoring of the scheme with
open communication of outcomes to the participants and the wider
community.
|
| |
Methodology
A key component of the project is a deep drain running parallel
to the Beacon River to provide a conveyance for the discharge of
rising saline groundwater. In its ultimate form, the drain is proposed
to run 60 km through the catchment, linking into the degraded wetlands
of Job’s Lake, Askew’s Lake and Lake MacDermott. The
optimum drain route will be selected following an investigation
phase to determine soil characteristics and groundwater levels along
the route. Where the drain channel passes through deeper free draining
soils, the drain will be lined with a suitable UV stabilized synthetic
liner. In these areas the channel will be shallower to reduce potential
groundwater uplift during wetter seasonal periods. Some sections
will be piped or culverted to contend with natural watercourses,
transport and access routes.
The deep drain will serve as a conveyance to collect and pass saline
water to discharge sites. The nominated discharge sites are the
degraded saline wetlands of Job’s lake, Askew’s Lake
and Lake McDermott. The hydraulic loading into these lakes is likely
to be less than annual evaporation from the lakes, thereby reducing
the reliance for transfers of water further downstream. Engineering
solutions in the vicinity of Job’s Lake and Askew’s
Lake are likely to involve a combination of deep drainage and pumped
and piped methods.
In the early stages of the project a grid of shallow groundwater
monitoring bores will be established in transverse transects along
the proposed route of the drain. A number of open test holes would
also be excavated to provide supplementary and infill information
The purpose of the test pits and bores is:
• to identify the shallow soils and existing groundwater profiles
to enable optimisation of the drain function and its route;
• to provide longer term monitoring of groundwater levels;
• to gauge the effectiveness of the drain and the other management
approaches implemented and ultimately to provide an indication of
the relative success of each approach.
A facilitated risk management workshop is proposed to be held to
bring together the key stakeholders and community representatives:
• to identify the risks affecting the outcomes of the project,
• to assess the impacts of those risks
• to prioritize the risks, and
• to develop a strategy for managing risk for the benefit
of the community.
| The
strong community involvement in the project will be enhanced
by an active training programme to develop land and water
management skills to facilitate implementation of project
works. |
|
| |
Participants
Mount Marshall Land Conservation District Committee
Shire of Mount Marshall
Engineering Consultant - GHD Pty Ltd
Other organisations which have been invited to participate include:
|
| |
Agriculture WA
Department of Environmental Protection
Wheatbelt Aboriginal Corporation
Greening Australia (WA)
|
Water
& Rivers Commission
Conservation & Land Management
CSIRO
Avon Working Group
|
| |
Other agencies which will be invited to participate will include: |
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Shire of Mukinbudin
Shire of Trayning
Main Roads WA
|
Westrail
Avon River Management Authority
University of Notre Dame
|
| |
The project will be managed by a steering committee appointed by
the proponent, the Mount Marshall Land Conservation District Committee.
|
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Project Duration
The
project will be staged over three years.
The first year will involve:
• establishment of a shallow groundwater monitoring network,
• a risk management workshop to further develop the management
strategy,
• building on the work already undertaken by the MMLCDC to
develop and undertake a structured community participation programme;
• identification of strategic sites for revegetation and rehabilitation;
• hydrological and environmental assessments;
• design and approval of engineering works;
• development of a training programme to develop the local
skills to implement appropriate portions of the works;
• initiation of the first phase of the deep drainage works
from Job’s Lake through Askew’s Lake to Lake McDermott;
• construction of relief bores associated with the constructed
drain;
• ongoing land use management to improve the robustness of
local practices.
The subsequent years will consolidate the work undertaken in the
first year with:
• ongoing monitoring of groundwater;
• fine-tuning of management techniques based on outcomes of
the ongoing land management processes and phased drain construction;
• ongoing training and community participation in the project;
• staged implementation of the balance of works proposed under
the scheme.
Ideally, the practices adopted and the infrastructure provided by
the project should enable continued sustainable management of the
land and water within the catchment. The techniques and skills developed
and the successes achieved should be transferrable to other locations.
It is hoped that the “kick-start” provided by this scheme
will enable the process to ultimately become self-sufficient and
self-funding.
|
| |
Estimated
Budget
Due to the complex nature of this proposal, the funding needs have
been defined on a preliminary basis only. Further detail and refinement
of costs and funding options will be developed, as required, in
further stages of this process. |
| |
| Activity |
Capital
Cost |
Annual
Cost |
| Investigation
and Planning Phase |
| |
Groundwater
Monitoring bores & equipment
|
$0013,000 |
|
| |
Geotechnical
interpretation & reporting |
$0002,700 |
|
| |
Monitoring
costs |
|
$0007,000
pa |
| |
Risk
Management Workshop |
$0007,000
|
|
| |
Hydrologic
assessments |
$0009,500 |
|
| |
Basic
environmental assessment |
$0003,200 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Engineering
Design and Works |
| |
Aerial
Survey (if necessary)
|
$0045,000 |
|
| |
Drainage
design and documentation |
$0020,000 |
|
| |
Deep
drain excavation |
$0567,000 |
$0018,000
pa |
| |
Drain
Lining (selected reaches) |
$0300,000 |
$0012,000
pa |
| |
Piped
Drainage (watercourses & access crossings |
$0135,000 |
$0008,000
pa |
| |
Relief
bores |
$0150,000 |
$0007,500
pa |
| |
|
|
|
| Land
Management Practices and Training |
| |
Training
and Community Consultation |
|
$0012,000
pa |
| |
Revegetation
and land rehabilitation |
TBA |
TBA |
| |
|
|
|
| Budget
summary |
| |
Year |
All
Other Funds |
SSC
Community
Support Funds |
Total
Project
Budget |
| |
2000-01 |
$0045,000
+ |
$0877,000 |
$0922,000
+ |
| |
2001-02 |
$0052,000
+ |
$0312,000
|
$0357,000
+ |
| |
2002-03 |
$0052,000
+ |
|
$0052,000
+ |
| |
Totals |
$0149,000
+ |
$1,189,000 |
$1,338,000
+ |
|
| |