Environmentally Friendly Surface Drainage in the Shepparton Irrigation Region

The Shepparton Irrigation Region is suffering land degradation in the form of salinity. A Salinity Management Plan was implemented in 1990 to provide a strategy to deal with salinity problems. Much of the focus of the plan to date has been on surface drainage. It is important that when these drains are being designed that all environmental aspects are given due consideration. The widely varying views and understanding of landholders, engineers and surveyors, has led to the development of guidelines which incorporate environmental features, such as wetlands, into the drains. This can be achieved through using a variety of common engineering techniques e.g. the use of weirs, culverts and the principle of retarding/retention basins as well as lateral thinking by both designers and engineers.