Soil Salinization is a serious threat to agriculture. Excessive salinity costs the United States billions of dollars each year. As new land comes into use, it is often in arid areas, which are highly susceptible to the problems associated with soil salinization. Irrigation water contains a variety of dissolved salts including NaCl, MgCl2, CaCl2, etc. When a field is irrigated, much of the water can evaporate, leaving these salts behind as a thin layer on top. Over time, salts build up on fields until the soil is so salty (salinized) that seeds will no longer germinate in the soil.