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Land and stream salinity
Journal of Hydrology, 71 (1984) 199--200 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
199
Book Review
Land and Stream Salinity. J.W. Holmes and T. Talsma (Editors). An International Seminar and Workshop held in Perth, W.A., Australia, November 1980. Developments in Agricultural Engineering, Vol. 2. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam--Oxford--New York, N.Y., 1981, iv + 390 pp., Dfl. 130.00/US $ 55.25 (hardcover) (reprinted from Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 4, Nos. 1/3, 1981). The book is a compilation of 19 papers presented at a workshop in Perth, Western Australia, in November 1980. It represents the most complete survey of dryland salinity problems so far, with special emphasis on the Australian experience. The coverage of the subject is admirably broad, from basics on the movement of water and salt through soils, a presentation of a large number of regional case studies in Australia and the U.S.A., to models and ideas for coping with the problem on a managerial level. This book should not be missed by anyone concerned with water quality and salinity of water resources. Dryland (secondary) salinity, resulting from flushing of stored salts in the soil column due to the increase in recharge which follows on deforestation of semi-arid lands, has been recognized much later than the effects of irrigated agriculture in increasing salinity of soils and waters. It now appears to be more widespread and possibly more damaging than the primary effect. It has adversely affected wide areas in Australia and Northern America including important river systems and it is believed to threaten additional systems, some of which wherein the problem has n o t y e t been recognized. As pointed out by the editors, there is as y e t a marked discrepancy between the basic transport theory for salt and water in soils, as reviewed most thoroughly by Bressler, and its application to the actual field conditions. The most excellent presentation by Raats goes a long way towards tying up the worlds of t h e o r y and practice, but the varied situations met with, as described by a number of case studies, imposes an insurmountable barrier. Indeed, it is not clear that the different sources of salinity and the geophysical settings of the problems are comparable in the different study areas. The geohydrological setting is spelled o u t in sufficient clarity in only some of these regional studies, notably that of Miller et al. for the North American Great Plains. In many other cases, as pointed out by Jenkins for the Victoria, Australia, area, the causes of salinity are too variegated to formulate a unified approach. One of the greatest assets of this book is the firsthand account of the situation in these respective study areas. One notes that geochemical and isotopic tools have not yet been applied to this problem in a major way; better understanding of the sources of salinity and the rates of movement through the soil column can be expected from the application of such techniques. The reader is further struck by the
200 wide discrepancy in the estimates of the time necessary for c o m p l e t e flushing of the salinities from these systems; these range from some tens of years to mu ch longer periods of hundreds of years in the different areas. Obviously the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of costly remedial measures will be different when the problem is a transient or long range one. The b o o k ' s f o r m a t and printing are pleasing and make it most readable. This compilation fulfils the i m p o r t a n t f u n c t i o n of illuminating a most acute and serious problem and bringing it to the a t t e n t i o n of a wide audience. JOEL R. GAT (Glen Osmond, S.A.)
199
Book Review
Land and Stream Salinity. J.W. Holmes and T. Talsma (Editors). An International Seminar and Workshop held in Perth, W.A., Australia, November 1980. Developments in Agricultural Engineering, Vol. 2. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam--Oxford--New York, N.Y., 1981, iv + 390 pp., Dfl. 130.00/US $ 55.25 (hardcover) (reprinted from Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 4, Nos. 1/3, 1981). The book is a compilation of 19 papers presented at a workshop in Perth, Western Australia, in November 1980. It represents the most complete survey of dryland salinity problems so far, with special emphasis on the Australian experience. The coverage of the subject is admirably broad, from basics on the movement of water and salt through soils, a presentation of a large number of regional case studies in Australia and the U.S.A., to models and ideas for coping with the problem on a managerial level. This book should not be missed by anyone concerned with water quality and salinity of water resources. Dryland (secondary) salinity, resulting from flushing of stored salts in the soil column due to the increase in recharge which follows on deforestation of semi-arid lands, has been recognized much later than the effects of irrigated agriculture in increasing salinity of soils and waters. It now appears to be more widespread and possibly more damaging than the primary effect. It has adversely affected wide areas in Australia and Northern America including important river systems and it is believed to threaten additional systems, some of which wherein the problem has n o t y e t been recognized. As pointed out by the editors, there is as y e t a marked discrepancy between the basic transport theory for salt and water in soils, as reviewed most thoroughly by Bressler, and its application to the actual field conditions. The most excellent presentation by Raats goes a long way towards tying up the worlds of t h e o r y and practice, but the varied situations met with, as described by a number of case studies, imposes an insurmountable barrier. Indeed, it is not clear that the different sources of salinity and the geophysical settings of the problems are comparable in the different study areas. The geohydrological setting is spelled o u t in sufficient clarity in only some of these regional studies, notably that of Miller et al. for the North American Great Plains. In many other cases, as pointed out by Jenkins for the Victoria, Australia, area, the causes of salinity are too variegated to formulate a unified approach. One of the greatest assets of this book is the firsthand account of the situation in these respective study areas. One notes that geochemical and isotopic tools have not yet been applied to this problem in a major way; better understanding of the sources of salinity and the rates of movement through the soil column can be expected from the application of such techniques. The reader is further struck by the
200 wide discrepancy in the estimates of the time necessary for c o m p l e t e flushing of the salinities from these systems; these range from some tens of years to mu ch longer periods of hundreds of years in the different areas. Obviously the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of costly remedial measures will be different when the problem is a transient or long range one. The b o o k ' s f o r m a t and printing are pleasing and make it most readable. This compilation fulfils the i m p o r t a n t f u n c t i o n of illuminating a most acute and serious problem and bringing it to the a t t e n t i o n of a wide audience. JOEL R. GAT (Glen Osmond, S.A.)