Border Rivers

rdf:langString Border Rivers

rdf:langString The Border Rivers are a group of Australian rivers and the associated region near part of the state border between New South Wales and Queensland. The rivers rise in the New England Tablelands bioregion and drain the western side of the Great Dividing Range as they collectively form part of the headwaters of the Darling River within the Murray-Darling basin. The eastern boundary of the Border Rivers catchment area extends along the Great Dividing Range divide from Stanthorpe in the north, to Guyra and Uralla, in the south. The western boundary of the region converges near the New South Wales town of Mungindi. Collectively, the Border Rivers comprise a catchment area of 45,675 kilometres (28,381 mi). The Border Rivers flows through lands previously occupied by the Kamilaroi and Bigambul and other indigenous people. The Morella Watercourse, Boobera Lagoon, and Pungbougal Lagoon located on the Macintyre River floodplain is considered one of the most important Aboriginal places in eastern Australia. As one of the few permanent waterbodies in the northern Murray-Darling basin the complex provides refuge for wildlife during periods of drought. Sundown National Park also has ecological significance, hosting eleven rare and threatened animals, five rare or vulnerable plant species and permanent waterholes supporting a diverse range of waterbirds and aquatic biota. As of 2012 the catchment supported a population of around 50,000 people. The main agricultural use of land is for grazing and dryland cropping, and this covers around ninety per cent of the catchment. Irrigation for the production of cotton occurs on the western plains between Goondiwindi and Mungindi.

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