WILLIAMS (1981 ) reviewed the limnology of saline lakes
in western Victoria, Australia. Following WILHAMS
(1981), saline lakes are regarded as those with a concentration
of total dissolved solids (TDS) greater than 3 ppt.
The seasonal pattern in TDS in saline lakes of western
Victoria is the one in which the concentration is higher
during summer when there is maximum evaporation and
minimum rainfall, and lowest during the winter. The
saline lakes of the region are also known to have a high
level of total hardness (WILLIAMS 1981), with pH values
mostly >8 and sometimes >9 (WILLIAMS 1981; DE
DEC~KER & WILLIAMS 1988). Several saline shallow
lakes in the region are polymictic (WILLIAMS 1981), thus