The salt that won't run to the sea

摘要

West of the old gold-rush city of Ben-digo towards the Murray River lies a scene of slow strangulation by salt. Dead trees stick out of rivers, salt pans form on roadsides and the brick walls in old buildings turn white as salt rises up out of the ground. For Terry Simpson and other farmers here, the traditional battles of life have been against fires and flooding rivers. Now, as Mr Simpson puts it, "the floods are coming from underground".