PSA Project on Salinity

Djavan Ploetz-Aponte, Jack Apperson, Bailey Pratt,

Matthew Beck
What is Salinity?

The Concentration of dissolved salts in water

High salinity affects the amount of vegetation along riverbanks which
limits the amount of food available between the organisms within the
community
Causes of Abnormal Salinity levels
Causes of abnormally high salinity levels:

High levels of evaporation

Weathering and Erosion

Causes of abnormally low salinity levels:

High levels of precipitation

Ice melting into river water
Solutions to reduce abnormal salinity levels

Add fresh water to a high salinity areas

Catchment and Sub-Catchment levels developed by the Catchment
Management Authorities
Manage the area where water comes to the surface (Discharge Zone)
Precipitation decreases the amount of salinity by washing away the salt within
the water environment
What is the standard for high salinity?

The unit for salinity is PSU (Practical Salinity Unit)

www.salinityremotesensing.ifremer.fr/sea-surface-salinity/salinity-distribution-at-t
he-ocean-surface
Results

Inks Lake: .375 ppt

Pace Bend: .5 ppt
Mansfield Dam: .4 ppt
We titrated the water until it changed from yellow to red, then calculated it
in ppt.
The salinity levels we found were pretty normal for rivers, as the average
should be between .0 and .5
Why should you care?
Salinity can affect plant growth which affects the fish populations food source
effectively decreasing the amount of diversity within the ecosystem
Less biodiversity means that in the future millions of people will face a future
where food supplies is more vulnerable to things like pests and diseases
When food supplies is infected it is no longer edible causing there to be a
shortage of food supply in large areas
Example

In Western Australia, salinity is an issue. Because of the flat land, the wind can easily
carry the salt from the ocean to other water features. It is ruining farm land, and the
biodiversity of the water environment.
Work Cited
"Estuarine Science." Physical Properties: Water Chemistry: Salinity, from Discovery of Estuarine Environments (DOEE). N.p., n.d. Web. 27
Mar. 2017.

Salt Level Rise in Freshwater Rivers, causing Biodiversity Loss, says study Sarah Miller, Feb 1, 2013, <natureworldnews.com>

Heritage, Corporate Name=Office Of Environment and. "Natural Environment | Impact of Salinity." Impact of Salinity | NSW Environment &
Heritage. N.p., 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Salinity Distribution at the Ocean Surface." Sea Surface Salinity - Remote Sensing. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.