Understanding salt and sodium in soils, irrigation water and shallow groundwaters: A companion to the software program SWAGMAN-Whatif

Understanding Salt and Sodium in Soils, Irrigation Water and Shallow Groundwaters is a companion booklet to SWAGMANe-Whatif, a computer model that lets you see how salts, soils, water and water tables interact. SWAGMANkWhatif also lets you assess the effects of management practices that you might undertake in a particular area. This booklet gives background information to help you understand salts, sodium and their interactions with water and soils. It explains where sodium and salts come from, how to identify salt-affected soils, and gives instructions on taking soil and water samples for analysis. It also gives suggestions on how to reduce the harmful effects of salts and sodium, and tells you where to get advice in making reclamation and management decisions for each situation. Managing salt and sodium affected soils, together with waters used for irrigation, is complex. It is not possible to cover all technical aspects or possible treatment approaches in this booklet. Instead, we have given a simple overview of the major principles involved in diagnosing and managing salt and sodium affected soils and irrigation waters. It is difficult to summarise salt and sodium effects on soils and plants without using some technical terms, so a comprehensive glossary has been included.