27/10/2005
- Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage,
Senator Ian Campbell, will visit the Yenyening Lakes in
the Western Australian Wheatbelt today to inspect the
site of a new programme to tackle salinity.
The area is a focus of the Australian Government's $2.8
million Wheatbelt Drainage programme, a feasibility study
into a regional-scale drain proposal to drain saline water
from agricultural land in wheatbelt, including into the
Yenyening salt-lake system.
The Wheatbelt Drainage programme will also look at a proposed
deep drain at Yarra Yarra, with a focus on issues such
as water quality and possible impacts on the natural salt
lake system.
The programme is being funded through the National Action
Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, which is providing
$150 million to WA in one of the biggest environmental
rescue efforts ever mounted in the State. Matched funding
is being provided by the WA Government.
The feasibility study is in addition to the Engineering
Evaluation Initiative, a $4 million Australian Government
programme developed with Wheatbelt farmers and catchment
groups to pilot deep drainage in different areas and assess
its results.
Senator Campbell said the Yenyening study would provide
the first scientific and engineering assessment of the
impact of the drain proposal on water quantities and flows
into the Yenyening Lakes system and the possible effect
on water quality in the lakes and the Avon River.
"The solution to salinity in Western Australia is
not going to be easy – it is a problem that has been decades
in the making and there is no quick fix and no single
solution," he said.
"We know a range of approaches will be required and
they will vary according to a region's geology and hydrology,
the size of the problem and the impact of any actions.
"We also must guard against creating a new environmental
problem while we're trying to fix another, so it is vital
that we carefully consider all options and do our homework
– which is what the feasibility study for the Yenening
proposal is all about."
Senator Campbell will visit Beverley, Qualandary Road
Crossing, Quairading and Cunderdin to view the salinity
problems first hand and discuss the issues with local
councillors, the WA Channel Management Group, local farmers
and Cunderdin Agricultural College representatives. |