GENERAL INFORMATION

Feature: The head waters of the Loddon-Campaspe rivers are in the Great Dividing range and their lower extremeties extend through the riverine plain in northern Victoria to the Murray River. The population of the area is much higher than in other focus catchments and the socio-economic and landuse issues are reflected by this. The dryland salinity problem has been recognised for many years, and is known to impact significantly on dryland agriculture in the uplands and both the dryland and irrigation areas on the plains. Salinity management plans have been developed with considerable community input, and the underlying research is more comprehensive than in any of the other focus catchments.

Area: 965,000ha

Climate: Rainfall ~ 550mm average (range 380-1300mm)