Rural Solutions SA is playing a crucial communications, brokering and technical consultancy role – providing an important point of contact between the government, NRM Boards and regional communities.

This has helped speed up access to services, information and funding for critical programs.

Areas of focus where Rural Solutions SA plays a key role include:

• Animal plant control
• Soil conservation and land management
• Land use planning and land developments
• Horticulture, livestock and field crops
• Water conservation and re-use
• Organic waste utilisation
• Salinity mapping and management
• GIS mapping
• Forestry
• Revegetation
• Native vegetation management
• Developing community capacity

Specific examples of work include:

• Working with landowners to minimize down stream pollution including redesigning properties to reduce agricultural impacts, by fencing to land types, controlling woody weeds, applying lime to neutralise acidic soils, reduce soil erosion and rehabilitate landscapes
• Establishing a 10-year program to increase biodiversity, support tourism needs and ensure the protection of wetlands and native vegetation
• Providing 23 staff to assist the Department for Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation in their work
• Working with the forestry industry to help maximize wood production while meeting sustainable practice and minimal environmental impacts
• Review land use activities presenting land use change opportunities reducing the impact on environment and supporting regional growth

Dealing with dryland salinity

The SaltSmartTM team has run a 4–year salinity management and monitoring program in the Northern and Yorke NRM region – providing detailed catchment plans for local communities and implementing an expansion of piezometer networks.

Incentives for on-ground works have been preferentially directed towards areas with completed SaltSmartTM plans.

A regional board member commented that the SaltSmartTM team “…is one of the few that stands out in their delivery of products in a timely manner.”

Contact: Trevor Dooley

Securing access to funding

Project management and technical support services are being delivered to support devolved grant projects in the South East of South Australia. Such projects have given more than 1000 landholders financial incentives to undertake such activities as native revegetation and remnant vegetation management.

Recent funding has seen more than 8000 hectares of remnant vegetation fenced for stock management and more than 500 hectares of native revegetation established. Rural Solutions SA has played a key role in these activities.

Contact: Donna Bartsch

Controlling watercourse erosion

Within the Cummins-Wanilla Basin of Lower Eyre Peninsula, it was found that many of the watercourses in the lower part of the catchment were completely silted up.

This siltation was preventing discharge of the saline surface runoff and baseflows – and this led to both waterlogging and salinisation of the surrounding low-lying farmland.

Rural Solutions SA provided the twofold solution – removing the sediment from the blocked watercourses and halting the active erosion. Through the management and placement of more than 60 Grade Control Structures (GCS) – ranging from “soft” structures using hay bales or coconut fibre logs through to large (200tonne) rock chutes. The flow is now restored.

Contact: Mark Sindicic

Related Links

• Natural Resources