The Murray-Darling Basin: Statistics

The Rivers

The greatest continuous length of river in the basin extends 3750km from the source of the Condamine, a little over 100km south-west of Brisbane, to the mouth of the Murray, within 100km of Adelaide.

Three main groups of rivers drain the Murray-Darling Basin

• The Darling(2740km) and its tributaries drain the northern half of the basin. Under average conditions they contribute 12% of the flow to the Murray.

• The Murrumbidgee River (1690km), the Lachlan River, Billabong Creek and their tributaries drain central and southern New South Wales as well as theAustralian Capital Territory. They contribute 13% of the flow to the Murray under average conditions.

• TheMurray (2530km) and its tributaries upstream of the Murrumbidgee junction drain central and northern Victoria and southern NSW. Under average conditions this region contributes 75% of the flow to the River Murray. The Upper Murray catchment above Albury, which covers less than 1.5% of the total Murray-Darling Basin area, contributes 37% of the total inflow to the River Murray in an average year.

Agricultural Production: Percentage of Australian Totals

Rice 97%

Cotton 94%

Grapes

Dried 97%

Wine 33%

Fruit (including table grapes) 63%

Wheat 44%

Wool 40%

Vegetables 25%

Native Fauna Species

• Birds 367 (35 endangered)

• Lizards 100 ( 1 endangered)

• Mammals 85 (20 extinct 16 endangered)

• Frogs 53

• Snakes 46 ( 5 endangered)

• Fish 31 ( 1 endangered)

• Tortoises 5

Source: Murray-Darling Basin Commision 1993

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