7 July 2006

The Avon Region Salinity Tender provides an opportunity for landholders and community groups to submit a bid for funds to implement on-ground salinity management.

The tender is open to landholders and community groups who own or manage land within the Avon River Basin, particularly those who have developed salinity management plans at a farm or catchment scale.

A total pool of up to $500,000 will enable successful applicants to implement salinity management strategies to prevent groundwater rise by managing middle and upper landscapes.

ACC Project Manager Elizabeth Kington said “We expect this funding opportunity to appeal to the Avon Community who have developed integrated salinity management plans to protect agricultural land that is at risk of becoming saline.”

Tenders will be compared with each other and the most successful tenders in terms of area of land impacted due to a change in land management and value for money will be awarded with funding.

The Salinity Tender, run by the Avon Catchment Council, is one of five components of the Salinity Management Project, with investment from the State and Australian Governments through the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP).

The Salinity Management project has already seen 100 farmers in the region subsidised to plant 1000 ha of saltbush in valley floor areas and 22 farmers assisted to plant 250 ha of oil mallees within an 80km radius of Wickepin.

For more information regarding the Avon Region Salinity Tender, contact Catherine von Pirch, Salinity Coordinator by phone on 96902250 or by email: cvonpirch@agric.wa.gov.au.

Media Contact: Rochelle Pyle Marketing & Communications Manager, (08) 9690 2250.