Estimates of areas affected have increased from 55 000 ha in 1982 to almost 393 000 ha in 1993. This is the first mapping carried out with consistent methodologies and guidelines. The assets currently affected, i.e. agricultural land, roads, railways, towns, remnant vegetation, ephemeral rivers, wetlands, and wetlands of national significance, and assets considered to be at risk are tabulated at the head of the report. The areas of agricultural land affected are due to secondary salinity, and do not include the estimated 84 000 ha of primary (pre-European) salinity.Interim estimates of the total cost of the economic impact of dryland salinity have also been calculated and included. While these estimates appear large, they represent, even in 2050, less than 1% of the Statewide agricultural production. Consequently, dryland salinity is probably of less significance in SA than some other mainland states.Because most of the groundwater trends are strongly controlled by rainfall, watertable levels have been falling throughout southern SA for the last 2-3 years up until 2000, due to well below average winter rainfalls. Some drier catchments have experienced falling groundwater levels since 1993. Future groundwater trends will depend on future rainfall patterns, which are difficult to predict. The regional groundwater systems of the Murray Basin are generally well monitored, with improvements required only in the western area to monitor the watertable rise which will increase saline groundwater inflows to the River Murray. Although networks are restricted in areal extent in other regions where local flow systems in fractured rock aquifers predominate, they nevertheless sufficiently indicate regional trends such that extra observation wells (which would require expensive drilling) are not necessary. Increasing stream salinisation is occurring in Tod River (Eyre Peninsula) and Middle River (Kangaroo Island), although alternative domestic supplies are available (limited groundwater on EP, desalination on KI), and there is little prospect of increased demand for domestic and stock water. However, there is little opportunity for increased industrial, mining and irrigation supplies in the future, which could have serious consequences for regional development in these areas. Elsewhere and particularly in the Mt Lofty Ranges, stream salinisation trends are not evident from the available data from catchments that have been monitored. Perhaps the most widely felt impacts of watertable rise will be felt by the consumers of River Murray water. Groundwater modelling suggests that vegetation clearance in the Mallee will result in an increase in salinity of 118 EC by 2050, with an additional cost to consumers of $17.4M/year. Biodiversity mapping has identified several areas at risk from rising watertables. These include extensive tea-tree shrublands and native grasslands in the Coorong District, and seasonal wetlands and watercourses in the Upper South-East. On Kangaroo Island, the viability of sedgeland and tea-tree ecosystems protected in conservation parks or vegetation heritage agreements are threatened by extensive areas of shallow saline aquifers, while on Lower Eyre Peninsula, native vegetation on valley floors and in seasonal swamps are also at high risk. A whole-of-government approach to the management of the salinity problem has been adopted with the formation of the State Salinity Committee, which has overseen formulation of the State Salinity Statement, and drafts of the South Australian River Murray Salinity Strategy and State Dryland Salinity Strategy that set out possible environmental management options.