Salinity is an on-going environmental concern that causes damage to agricultural land, downstream water users, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as to regional and urban infrastructure. One strategy to manage increasing salinity in the Murray Darling Basin is the construction of 13 major salt interception schemes that divert 550,000 tonnes of salt away from the Murray River each year. The Barr Creek Drainage Disposal Scheme is one of these schemes diverting saline water into

This bulletin explores the relationship between local irrigation practice and adaptive learning. When combined the shared conceptualisation of real world problems leads to better industry outcomes. The research bulletin uses a case study of irrigating a sweet corn crop with waste water to demonstrate this process in action.

This project took the results of a workshop held in 1999 to develop a framework of terms and definitions for water use efficiency and consulted stakeholders in the irrigation industry around Australia to produce agreement on them.

Rising global demand for food offers a positive outlook for irrigators, with potential for higher commodity prices. However, producers face increasingly competitive and volatile markets, compounded by the global fnancial crisis. There are also looming shortages of water, as cities increase their demands, water is reallocated to improve the environment and flows are affected by climate change.

The objectives of Stage 1 are to: 1. Review the current knowledge and status of Open Hydroponics (OH) including grey and published literature;2. Evaluate the impact of OH on water supply infrastructure;3. Examine the potential impact of OH on the environment.

the National Program for Sustainable irrigation (NPSI) has established an Ecological Risk Assessment Project, the overall objective of which is to develop a generic framework for assessing the ecological risks associated with Australian irrigation systems. This new decision support tool should assist the Australian irrigation industry in quantifying and prioritising the ecological risks from their activities, and also to better focus research efforts and management actions to minimise these risks. Additionally, this information should also provide an opportunity for regulatory authorities (such as EPA's) to better determine what needs protection and to use this as the basis for licensing and monitoring requirements

The Northern Australia Irrigation Futures (NAIF) research program has provided new knowledge, tools and processes to support decision making regarding irrigation in northern Australia.

The National Program for Sustainable Irrigation was a unique collaboration as it involved governments, irrigators, water providers and researchers from across Australia. It covered every aspect of irrigation from dam management and water delivery, through on-farm management, to sustainable landscape environmental measures

There is scant information on the economic, social and environmental values of consequences of policies on diversion rates and various scenarios. For example scientific advice to the Living Murray initiative suggests that there is a good chance of achieving healthy river systems in the Murray Darling Basin if an average of 4000 GL is returned to environmental flows annually. But this would have major economic impacts. A phased approach to comprehensively study the value of irrigation to the Australian economy and the implications of various policy scenarios is required.