This dataset was developed to support the South Creek Stormwater Project (SCSP). Primarily a desktop study, existing Western Sydney HGLs covering the South Creek area have been reviewed and adjusted to reflect available soil mapping. LF7 landform modelling for the catchment has been used to define HGL management zones to which salinity hazard ratings are assigned. These ratings are at a landform element scale, an improvement on the original HGL ratings which were applied to the whole HGL unit.

For this dataset, additional information can be found in the relevant HGL unit descriptions provided in the original Western Sydney HGL data package.

Spatial resolution for this product is 1:50,000.

This is intended to be an interim product. A future update will incorporate more recent refinements to the soil landscape boundaries and provide basic descriptions for the updated HGL units in South Creek. It is also intended to add a small area of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis zone that falls outside the South Creek catchment.

The 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.

Hydrogeological Landscapes (HGL) and associated salinity impacts and hazards are available as a custom layer in eSPADE, which includes links to individual HGL unit descriptions.