Water policy in Australia is undergoing considerable and unprecedented change. Most recently, the emphasis on the sustainable management of water resources in the Murray Darling Basin has seen a shift of control from the States to the Commonwealth. The declining availability of water and the subsequent approaches taken by governments have come under increasing scrutiny from the public. Indeed, the actions associated with water policy in Australia, particularly water used for irrigated agriculture, have

* Investigating the Salt of the Earth * Digging deep and the quest for super soils * Linking irrigator experience with measured data * NPSI News

An overview of NPSI Phase 2 Goals and research and development projects.

The successful implementation of a policy is dependant on public support, especially water policy, and so we need to rethink how we make' policy in Australia if we are to successfully manage our water resources into the future.

Discusses irrigation in Australia in the context of global food security, decreasing water resources and the contribution of research and development to innovation

* Determine/update the crop salinity relationships * Determine the variability of EC (soil water) and leaching efficiency in the field * Simulate different scenarios of River Murray salinity at Morgan * Input to the MDB Salinity Strategy and Integrated Catchment Management Plan

The world is changing. Climate, trade policies, governments, economic conditions and community preferences all change, often unpredictably. How will these changes affect irrigated agriculture in the Goulburn Broken catchment over the next 20 to 30 yearsΓ In the face of this uncertainty, how do we plan for a thriving economy, vital communities and a healthy environment in future decadesΓ

The new Phase of NPSI will focus its investment on answering questions around: plant performance and how that impacts on various farm irrigation systems; system-level sustainability: and tools for irrigators, water suppliers and policy makers to measure change. Research will be commissioned to provide either new information (smart science) or development; ensuring that the new information can be readily used by practitioners, planners and policy makers.

This Attachment to the Final Report provides a compilation of all the post-implementation reviews carried out within the Irrigation Futures project. The reviews are intended to provide further guidance to next-users on what worked (or didn't work) at various Stages of the project and why. Next-users can use these insights to modify their plans as required.

A better understanding of plant requirements and the highly efficient management of water has led irrigators to apply water to accurately meet crop needs. This has meant a considerable reduction in the amount of water flushing through the root-zone. As a result, soil salinity levels have risen. Current drought conditions and low water allocations are likely to result in even less water being used to flush salts from the root-zone. The declining quality of water resources means that actively