Soil and Land Degradation Management for the HGL of the Australian Capital Territory 2017 (2nd Ed)

This dataset supersedes all earlier versions of 'Soil and Land Degradation Management for the HGL of the Australian Capital Territory'. It incorporates HGL boundary and management area edits based on updated soil landscape mapping for the ACT.

The focus of this dataset is the Australian Capital Territory. It contains digital spatial data developed to assist in land management decision making in the ACT. The dataset identifies soil and land degradation issues in defined Hydrogeological Landscapes (HGL). At the HGL unit level, information about general management issues and landscape function is assigned. Classifications for Land and Soil Capability (LSC) Soil Regolith Stability and Soilworks class are assigned at an individual management area level within each HGL. Appropriate management actions for soil and land degradation management and specific high risk land uses are given for each management area. Hyperlinks to full soil and land degradation management descriptions for each HGL unit are provided.

The Hydrogeological Landscape (HGL) concept provides a structure for understanding how differences in salinity are expressed across the landscape. A HGL spatially differentiates areas with similar salt stores and pathways for salt mobilisation. The process of delineating a HGL relies on the integration of a number of causative factors: geology, soils, slope, regolith thickness, and climate; an understanding of the different modes of salinity development; and the impacts of salinity within landscapes (land salinity, salt load and salt concentration in streams due to salt contributions from base flow and runoff ). Information sources such as soil landscape maps, site characterisation, salinity occurrence maps, hydrogeological data, surface water and groundwater data are incorporated into standardised unit descriptions.

Spatial resolution for this product is 1: 25 000.