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... Acid and AS soil hazards have greatly impacted agriculture, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, infrastructure, and human health ( Figure 21.3) (Sammut et al., 1996;Powell and Martens, 2005;Ljung et al., 2009). These impacts and subsequent remediation activities can cost millions of dollars imposing a heavy economic burden on countries (Powell and Martens, 2005;Hemming et al., 2018). ...
A large number of areas around the world have been affected by soil acidity (normally pH<5.5) due to natural and anthropogenic-driven effects. Soil acidification is one of the major environmental challenges threatening the sustainability of agricultural production and food security all over the world. Also, the occurrence of acid sulfate soils with sulfuric horizons is another global concern that causes a range of negative impacts on the environment and agriculture. Thus, identifying effective management strategies for acid/acid sulfate soils has become an essential necessity. This chapter will provide an overview about the formation of acid/acid sulfate soils and their agricultural/environmental impacts, highlighting available management practices. We will also discuss existing challenges and future research directions for the sustainable management of acid/acid sulfate soils.
Freshwater aquatic ecosystems can be considered sentinels of change as they integrate signals from catchment, hydrology and biogeochemistry to provide an indication of how the system fluctuates. The Coorong estuary acts as a sentinel for the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. Its location at the terminus of the Murray-Darling River systems, which drains more than 1 million square kilometres across 22 major catchments, means that any change to climate, water extraction or land use in the upstream catchments will have repercussions for the Coorong. It therefore acts as an indicator of the health of the MDB and the effectiveness of
the Murray-Darling Basin Plan at protecting this ecosystem. Environmental water secured through the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and establishment of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has been critical to preventing significant ecosystem decline in the Coorong. For most water years in the last decade environmental water has contributed to the majority of flow through the barrages. This has exported salt from the basin, reduced influx of salt from the ocean, and expanded available habitat for fish in the Coorong. However, the
environmental flows have not been sufficient to arrest sand build up, and dredges still operate at the Murray Mouth during all but the highest flow events. There is a clear case for continued water management and reform, extending beyond the boundaries of the MDB, to further increase security of water flowing along the river system through the barrages and supporting the ecological health of the Coorong, and by association the full MDB.
The major water resource policy and management reforms that have occurred in Australia's Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) over the past 30 years have made a good start to ensuring the MDB is a healthy and sustainable working Basin into the future. This is particularly true of the Basin Plan and the $A13 billion being invested to recover water for the environment. Many emerging and major challenges remain to achieving this goal over the next 30 years, to 2050 and beyond, particularly given an increased frequency of drought and the hotter and dryer future climate the Basin is facing.
In this chapter, we identify and discuss six desirable changes to the current Basin Plan, including further adjustments to sustainable diversion limits (SDL) and revisions to environmental objectives related to the Basin Plan because of climate change; addressing emerging water quality issues; improving environmental water management; strengthening the links with management of the Lower Lakes, Coorong and the coastal zone; improving monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management; and strengthening compliance arrangements. The scheduled 2026 review of the Basin Plan provides the opportunity to implement these changes at the Basin scale.
Additionally, we have also identified three further reforms aimed to achieve a more integrated Basin Plan, including implementation of effective integrated catchment management; ongoing engagement of all stakeholders—including rural and regional communities, Aboriginal people, and irrigation industries—in well-designed, independent processes of deliberative decision-making and policy codesign; and effective integration of water policy development with linked policy areas, including climate change adaptation, regional development, and agricultural transitions. We proposed three key elements required for this integration process to be successful:
•Vision—A clear statement of why an integrated approach to managing the Basin would be beneficial.
•Better decision-making processes—The vision and a ‘road map’ for implementing the integration could be developed via an initial independently convened deliberative process involving all stakeholders and state and Commonwealth government representatives.
•Leadership from state and Commonwealth ministers (e.g. water, agriculture, environment, and regional development) to provide an appropriate authorising environment for the deliberative work need to develop a widely accepted vision.
We also draw out some ‘key lessons’ of relevance to others involved in the management of multijurisdictional Basins.
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