The effect of recycling storm water with high chloride concentrations on shrub willow growth was examined in a ten-week greenhouse study. Three willow varieties Salix miyabeana (SX64), Salix purpurea (9882-34), and Salix sachalinensis x Salix miyabeana (9870-40) were grown in organically-amended Solvay waste, and irrigated with five storm water concentrations containing 163, 325, 813, 1625, and 8125 mg Cl(-) L(-1) and a tap water control. Stomatal conductance values responded most rapidly to stress (after 4.5 weeks), but height and leaf length measurements, which revealed signs of stress after 6 and 7 weeks, might be more practical stress indicators for large-scale plantations. Even though variety 9870-40 was most sensitive with increasing concentrations of Solvay storm water, this variety had the greatest ET values during the ten-week trial. Storm water with concentrations up to 1625 mg Cl(-) L(-1) had no short-term effects on biomass accumulation and evapotranspiration. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.