water bird species in decline, a 75% reduction in sealed road life, and $400million in lost profits. South Australia Salinity in South Australia is a problem in all principal agricultural areas, with 370000 hectares of land and wetlands impacted. At current rates, this is expected to increase by 60% by 2050. It is expected to cost the state around $47million per year in lost agricultural profit, and is expected to taint more than 20% of ground water to levels above those safe for human consumption. Tasmania Tasmania is relatively unaffected by salinity, with around 1% of agricultural land, and 8% of farm land adversely affected by salt, resulting in a current cost to the state of around $5million per year, rising to around $13million by 2050. The majority of this salinity is irrigation based. Queensland Queensland is the least affected state of Australia, due to its unique seasonal rainfall. Around 15000 hectares are currently affected, with 3.1million hectares considered highrisk. At current rates however, salinity is predicted to have moderate scale impacts on land and infrastructure by 2050, with 12,000 km of roads, 1500 km of rail lines, and around 2.8million hectares of agricultural land, remnant vegetation, and wetlands and streams negatively affected Impact reduction and management Government initiatives The Australian governments have taken an integrated approach to target different scales of management. The approach is to manage the salinity issue at national, regional and state levels, down to local and individual farmers. Since 1983 the Australian governments have actioned the National Soil Conservation Program, National Landcare Program, Natural Heritage Trust, National Action Plan for Salinity and Water and Caring for our Country. The National Landcare Program focused on improving resource management and practices at the farm and local level. The National Dryland Salinity Program (1993 to 2004), funded a broad range of research and development from which to roll out further government programs. The National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ), implemented together with the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) program, ran from 2000 to 2008. The NAPSWQ was adopted through an intergovernmental agreement between Australian commonwealth, state and territory governments. The plan aimed to help support community action and land managers in adversely affected catchments, and was rolled out by regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisations. The governments committed $1.4 billion over seven years to tackle the salinity problem. The plan involved input and participation from government,