Economic Aspects of Dryland Salinity in South Western Australia

Economic Aspects of Dryland Salinity in South Western Australia PDF Author: John Barton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Soil salinization
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Economic Aspects of Dryland Salinity in South Western Australia

Economic Aspects of Dryland Salinity in South Western Australia PDF Author: John Barton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Soil salinization
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Economic Tools to Tackle Dryland Salinity in Western Australia

Economic Tools to Tackle Dryland Salinity in Western Australia PDF Author: David J. Pannell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780730745037
Category : Salinity
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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The Effect of Management on the Extent, Timing and Severity of Salinisation, and the Economics of Dryland Salinity in Western Australia

The Effect of Management on the Extent, Timing and Severity of Salinisation, and the Economics of Dryland Salinity in Western Australia PDF Author: Western Australia. State Salinity Council. Research and Development Technical Committee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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A Hydrogeological-economic Modelling Approach to Dryland Salinity in the North Stirling Land Conservation District, Western Australia

A Hydrogeological-economic Modelling Approach to Dryland Salinity in the North Stirling Land Conservation District, Western Australia PDF Author: Jeanette Gomboso
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Soils, Salts in
Languages : en
Pages : 1206

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Economics of Protecting Road Infrastructure from Dryland Salinity in Western Australia

Economics of Protecting Road Infrastructure from Dryland Salinity in Western Australia PDF Author: Tennille Graham
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Roads
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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[Truncated abstract] The salinisation of agricultural land, urban infrastructure and natural habitat is a serious and increasing problem in southern Australia. Government funding has been allocated to the problem to attempt to reduce substantial costs associated with degradation of agricultural and non-agricultural assets. Nevertheless, Government funding has been small relative to the size of the problem and therefore expenditure needs to be carefully targeted to interventions that will achieve the greatest net benefits. For intervention to be justified, the level of salinity resulting from private landholder decisions must exceed the level that is optimal from the point of view of society as a whole, and the costs of government intervention must be less than the benefits gained by society. This study aims to identify situations when government intervention is justified to manage dryland salinity that threatens to affect road infrastructure (a public asset). A key gap in the environmental economics literature is research that considers dryland salinity as a pollution that has off-site impacts on public assets. This research developed two hydrological/economic models to achieve this objective. The first was a simple economic model representing external costs from dryland salinity. This model was used to identify those variables that have the biggest impact on the net-benefits possible from government intervention. The second model was a combined hydro/economic model that represents the external costs from dryland salinity on road infrastructure. The hydrological component of the model applied the method of metamodelling to simplify a complex, simulation model to equations that could be easily included in the economic model. The key variables that have the biggest impact on net-benefits of dryland salinity mitigation were the value of the off-site asset and the time lag before the onset of dryland salinity in the absence of intervention. ... In the case study of dryland salinity management in the Date Creek subcatchment of Western Australia, the economics of vegetation-based and engineering strategies were investigated for road infrastructure. In general, the engineering strategies were more economically beneficial than vegetation-based strategies. In the case-study catchment, the cost of dryland salinity affecting roads was low relative to the cost to agricultural land. Nevertheless, some additional change in land management to reduce impacts on roads (beyond the changes justified by agricultural land alone) was found to be optimal in some cases. Reinforcing the results from the simple model, a key factor influencing the economics of dryland salinity management was the urgency of the problem. If costs from dryland salinity were not expected to occur until 30 years or more, the optimal response in the short-term was to do nothing. Overall, the study highlights the need for governments to undertake comprehensive and case-specific analysis before committing resources to the management of dryland salinity affecting roads. There were many scenarios in the modelling analysis where the benefits of interventions would not be sufficient to justify action.

Economic Modelling of Dryland Salinity in Western Australia

Economic Modelling of Dryland Salinity in Western Australia PDF Author: J. Gomboso
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Soils, Salts in
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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A Hydrological-economic Modelling Approach to Dryland Salinity in Western Australia

A Hydrological-economic Modelling Approach to Dryland Salinity in Western Australia PDF Author: J. Gomboso
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Ecosystem Health

Ecosystem Health PDF Author: Peter Christiaan Speldewinde
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Environmental degradation
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Australia is experiencing widespread ecosystem degradation, including dryland salinity, erosion and vegetation loss. Approximately 1 million hectares (5.5%) of the south-west agricultural zone of Western Australia is affected by dryland salinity and is predicted to rise to 5.4 million hectares by 2050. Such degradation is associated with many environmental outcomes that may impact on human health, including a decrease in primary productivity, an increase in the number of invasive species, a decrease in the number of large trees, overall decrease in biodiversity, and an increase in dust production. The resulting degradation affects not only farm production but also farm values. This study examines the effects of such severe and widespread environmental degradation on the physical and mental health of residents. Western Australia has an extensive medical record database which links individual health records for all hospital admissions, cancer cases, births and deaths. For the 15 diseases examined in this project, the study area of the south west of Western Australia (excluding the capital city of Perth) contained 1,570,985 morbidity records and 27,627 mortality records for the 15 diseases examined in a population of approximately 460,000. Environmental data were obtained from the Western Australian Department of Agriculture s soil and landscape mapping database. A spatial Bayesian framework was used to examine associations between these disease and environmental variables. The Bayesian model detected the confounding variables of socio-economic status and proportion of the population identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. With the inclusion of these confounders in the model, associations were found between environmental degradation (including dryland salinity) and several diseases with known environmentally-mediated triggers, including asthma, ischaemic heart disease, suicide and depression. However, once records of individuals who had been diagnosed with coexistent depression were removed from the analysis, the effect of dryland salinity was no longer statistically detectable for asthma, ischaemic heart disease or suicide, although the effects of socio-economic status and size of the Aboriginal population remained. The spatial component of this study showed an association between land degradation and human health. These results indicated that such processes are driving the degree of psychological ill-health in these populations, although it remains uncertain whether this 4 is secondary to overall coexisting rural poverty or some other environmental mechanism. To further investigate this complex issue an instrument designed to measure mental health problems in rural communities was developed. Components of the survey included possible triggers for mental health, including environmental factors. The interview was administered in a pilot study through a telephone survey of a small number of farmers in South-Western Australia. Using logistic regression a significant association between the mental health of male farmers and dryland salinity was detected. However, the sample size of the survey was too small to detect any statistically significant associations between dryland salinity and the mental health of women. The results of this study indicate that dryland salinity, as with other examples of ecosystem degradation, is associated with an increased burden of human disease.

The Economics of Dryland Salinity Management in a Low Rainfall Environment of Western Australia

The Economics of Dryland Salinity Management in a Low Rainfall Environment of Western Australia PDF Author: Michele Brigitte John
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Farm management
Languages : en
Pages : 620

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Dryland Salinity

Dryland Salinity PDF Author: Ben White
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781740521048
Category : Dry farming
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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