ICE WaRM Essential Water webinars - When the floodplain gets too salty and threatens the river salinity: practical approaches to managing salinity.

The Murray River is Australia's longest river at 2,508 km (1,558 mi), forming Australia's most important irrigated region. In places, infrastructure development and extraction have decreased the natural flood frequency and increased rates of floodplain salinization. Leading to concerns about the quality of water extracted from the Murray River for industrial, agricultural, and potable uses, including metropolitan Adelaide's water supply.

This webinar will explore the drivers of floodplain salinity, the potential impacts on water users and the environment and possible mitigation measures. The webinar will draw on research into the flow and solute dynamics at Clark's Floodplain on the lower Murray River. Which included developing and calibrating an integrated numerical model of the floodplain, to understand the nature of surface-groundwater interactions in to assess different salinity management options, including lowering the groundwater table using a series of pumps, injection of freshwater to the saline floodplain aquifer, artificial flooding, and river stage manipulation.