Media Release

New tool in salinity engineering [May 15, 2008]

_________________________________________________________________________

By combining basic rules of hydrology with local knowledge, an innovative new software application will go a long way to improving the management of salinity in the Avon River Basin and beyond.
“The software package will assist farmers, drainage contractors and catchment planners to design and evaluate deep drainage as an element of integrated catchment management planning. Our focus has been on finding practical ways to address salinity so farmers can maintain production without having unforeseen impacts on neighbouring property,” said Robin Sanders, Project Advisor for the Australian Government.

Created through the Avon Catchment Council’s (ACC) integrated salinity management project ‘Yilgarn Engineering Design Plan’, GIS software contractor Rokit Science developed the drainage planning components called ‘CatchMan for Drainage Management’.

“The software is very flexible and powerful. Its simplicity allows anyone interested in landscape and salinity management to generate a logical and practical salinity management solution,” said Peter Hudson, Managing Director of Rokit Science.

“CatchMan is a useful tool for farmers wanting to address salinity on their properties. By planning and evaluating the project before instigating on‐ground works farmers can save a lot of time, money and possible disappointment,” said Don Woodcock, Project Coodinator. This project is one of several managed by the ACC with funding assistance from the Australian and Western Australian governments that explore ways to design and assess the environmental impact of deep drainage schemes. Further additions to the software are planned for the future including surface water management and modelling the impact on groundwater of plant‐based solutions to salinity.

For now however, land managers searching for ways to stop encroaching salinity have a new weapon in the form of CatchMan which may just provide the answers they’ve been looking for.

For further information regarding this project, please contact ACC Project Manager Dan Ferguson on (08) 9690 2250 or dferguson@agric.wa.gov.au

The Avon Catchment Council is the regional group for natural resource management in the Avon River Basin. Funding is provided by the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia.

A Catching Product - Kim Wilson, Waroona.

CatchMan, a simple geographical information system (GIS) package produced by Rokit Science, provides facilities for land managers to create detailed, multi-layered maps of their properties.
Digital aerial photography with mapping information overlayed provides the basis for identification of geographic and man-made features. Alcoa provided funding to purchase the software, photography and cadastre information.
Landcare Centre staff at Telecentres in Waroona and Mundijong regularly conduct free training sessions to teach the basic operating procedures and get people started.
Most landholders are able to create a simple map of their property within the first three-hour lesson. All Peel- Harvey landholders, from small lifestyle properties through to medium and large commercial farms, can use the program.
As a tool, CatchMan provides the facility to calculate accurate measurements from the maps created. This is ideal for planning on-ground works such as fencing, herbicide or fertiliser quantities and Landcare projects. Providing advice on property plans and applying for Landcare grants is made that much easier with a detailed map to work with.
So far, 22 free workshops have been delivered to 80 landholders. The program has also been used to produce aerial photos for participants in small-property planning courses. This provides an opportunity to study the property, observe how it relates to those around it and take advantage of the natural environment to design the preferred property layout.
Most sectors of the community have embraced the new CatchMan program whole-heartedly. The program itself is quite straightforward to operate, particularly when compared to other GIS systems. Limitations with computer experience have been addressed by maintaining small training groups where time is available to provide extra assistance to those who require it.
Where to from here? The scope for easy to use GIS property planning software is huge. The latest versions are GPS compatible and more data layers, such as soil profiles and related information, are being developed by the Department of Agriculture.
The potential of this technology is considerable.

More information from Colleen Archibald - southern Peel-Harvey on 9733 2628, Tim Ryan - northern Peel-Harvey on 9526 0012


back . top