Size
The River Murray Basin of 1,057,000 square kilometres is about one-seventh of the total area of Australia and comprises three-quarters of New South Wales, over one-half of Victoria, a small portion of South Australia, and an area of Queensland greater than the total area of Victoria.

Rainfall
Of the above area, only five percent has an average rainfall in excess of 760 mm and nearly two-thirds normally supplies no water to the two trunks. The catchment of the upper Murray above Albury contributes more than one-quarter of the total flow in the Murray system, from an area which is less than two per cent of the catchment area.

The average rainfall over the Murray basin is 430 mm compared with an average of about 1270 mm in the Tennessee Valley, USA.

Flow
The grade or fall of the Murray varies from 14 cm per kilometre near Albury, to about 2.5 cm on the last 160 kilometres to the sea.

The highest point of the Murray watershed is Mount Kosciusko, with an altitude of 2231 metres.

Since gauging began at Swan Hill in 1909, the Murray ceased to flow at that point for short periods in 1914, 1915, and 1923. In April 1915 no flow was recorded for a whole month.

Since the Hume Reservoir was built in 1936 a flow has been maintained throughout the length of the Murray at all times, despite several severe drought periods.

Length
From its source in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, the Murray River flows 2,530 kilometres west then south to meet the Southern Ocean in South Australia.

The Murray is continuously navigable for 1986 kilometres from Goolwa to Yarrawonga Weir. In this length there are thirteen weirs incorporating locks.

From millennia Aboriginal people have relied on the river’s abundance. The many various groups included Ingalta, Moorundie, Goodwarra, Parrian-kaperre, Tongwillum, and Yoorlooarra. In the Riverland, the Ngarrindjeri people lived on and along the lands around the Murray and the Coorong and are, today, South Australia’s largest Aboriginal community.

Hamilton Hume and William Hovell were the first white men to travel its banks in 1824, but it was Captain Charles Sturt who named the “broad and noble” waterway the “Murray River”.

The Murray quickly became a crucial communication and transport link for Australia. River ports sprung up to service the trade and passenger traffic that travelled its length. In the 1880s, at the height of the river trade, several hundred paddle-steamers and many more barges were operating on the river. 

But the journey could be fraught with danger: the mighty riverboats could be rendered powerless when the river dried up into a series of ponds, or when it flooded and made the charts useless. 

In 1918, it was finally agreed how to fix this. Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Federal Government formed the River Murray Commission to control all development and works that were carried out on the river.

The Commission coordinated the construction of storages, locks and weirs to reduce the effects of drought and flood. Today, the water flow is still managed by these locks on the river from Yarrawonga in Victoria to Blanchetown in South Australia, six of which are spaced through the Riverland. 

The health of the river is vital to Australians for many reasons – our prosperity, our environment, our communities and our future depend on it. Modern demands for agricultural, domestic and industrial use, as well as the importance of protecting its diverse ecosystems, require a balance that needs constant attention.