In the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), in southeastern Australia there is concern that salts may be accumulating in soils under drip irrigation. This paper describes the assessment of the sustainability of drip irrigation in various vineyards after 4 to 11 years of implementing drip irrigation. A total of six drip irrigated vineyards were sampled in the row and inter row for soil salinity. Four of the six sites were chosen because there was historical soil salinity data associated with them from before drip irrigation was implemented. This historical data was used for comparison with current soil salinity data. At all vineyards it was found that salt concentrations in the rootzone were below vine tolerance thresholds of 1.5 dS/m. The results also showed that the salt concentrations in soils under drip irrigation actually tended to decrease with time, especially in the inter row that was no longer watered. There were large variations in the distributions of salinity within vineyards and between vineyards. The salinity profiles were highly varied. It would appear that there is little danger of salt accumulation in the rootzone in this context, probably due to the low salinity irrigation water and the potential for leaching by rainfall.
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