Acid Sulphate Soils Around Australia

Latest News and Updates on ASS issues around the Lower Lakes of South Australia

27 May 2010

Acidification threat in Boggy Lake. 

DEH announces that 400 tonnes of limestone will be spread by airplanes.

5 May 2010

New acid sulphate soil management program for for the wetlands between Lock 1 and Wellington

General Information on Acid Sulphate Soils

South Australia

Read a general description about acid sulphate soils , or ASS, and the issues caused by declining water levels in the Lower Lakes.  This CSIRO website on acid sulfate soils along the River Murray and Lower Lakes has local reports and maps of sites being monitored.  Also worth watching are these Catalyst videos

on 'Acid Mud'.  Bottle Bend Lagoon is featured in this video.

Read the Acid Sulfate Soil Assessment in Finniss River, Currency Creek, Black Swamp and Goolwa Channel (4MB) report from CSIRO, June 2009 on the acid sulfate soil problems around the Lower Lakes. Contained in this report are these two diagrams predicting the extent of acid sulphate soils at different -AHD levels. (Notice the current AHD level in our side nav bar at left) Click on images to enlarge.

Lake Alexandrina                            Lake Albert

As of August 2009, 20,000 ha of acid sulphate soils are exposed in the Lower Lakes of SA.  For a complete mapping of ASS soils in the Lower Lakes, (2MB) view this map by CSIRO showing it at .5AHD.

Acid Sulphate Soil Management between Lock 1 and Wellington

As of 5 May 2010 a program to monitor the wetlands for ASS.

Other States

Read about acid sulfate soils in Western Australia and how it has affected the coastline. The Peel-Harvey waterways of WA which include a very large shallow estuary, and how bringing in fresh, ocean water helped fix their acid problems. Learn about the Dawesville Channel and how this man made channel now brings in good tidal flow to the Peel-Harvey Estuary.

In NSW in the Richmond River floodplain is The Baggotville Barrage and the Tuckean Swamp.  It is an acid sulphate soil hotspot with a tidal barrage.  Read a general description of the area and the problems they face with acid sulfate soils and water restrictions.  More information is in this research paper which explains the need to open the barrages.

Acid Sulfate Soils Remediation Guidelines for Coastal Floodplains in NSW. Department of Environment and Climate Change. Tulau, M.J. (2007) .  The most complete and informative source on remediation options we have found.

Plate 3. An ASS scald in the Tuckean (Photo by Michael Wood)