Abstract
The South West Coast Drainage Division, which extends over 3.14 × 109 km2 (Anon, 1975), is economically the most important part of Western Australia. Sadler (1976) examines problems associated with increasing water demands and limited resources, and possible conflicts with development of land resources in the region. Of particular concern is the degradation of quality of surface water resources, which has occurred in the 150 years since European settlement (Wood, 1924; Peck and Hurle, 1973; Loh and Hewer, 1977). Thirteen of the nineteen river basins (over 50% of the surface water resources of the region) yield water containing total soluble solutes greater than 500 mg 1−1. Some of these streams were fresher before settlement but are now too saline for many potential uses (Mulcahy, 1978).
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© 1980 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Sharma, M.L., Williamson, D.R., Hingston, F.J. (1980). Water Pollution as a Consequence of Land Disturbance in South-West of Western Australia. In: Biogeochemistry of Ancient and Modern Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-26582-6_46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-26582-6_46
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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