A risk framework for preventing salinity

This paper describes a risk assessment schema and associated information base designed to support community investment in preventative actions. It describes a new approach to salinity risk similar to the concepts of diagnosis and staging used by physicians for diseases such as cancer. It outlines the diagnostic tools now being developed to define the timeframes of salinity development, the biophysical features of the landscape within which salinity develops and the riskiness of current and alternative management systems and matches this with a complementary community process designed to build knowledge and intervention. A GIS/database system captures the concepts of salinity risk and a large array of diagnostic information in a form designed for the development of salinity knowledge in the community and to guide investment in salinity prevention. The communication strategy and the salinity risk system are being applied in the Fitzroy Basin, Australia, an area of approximately 150,000 km2 straddling the Tropic of Capricorn.