Abstract
IRRIGATION in Australia, which began in the ‘seventies and staggered uneasily for half a century, during which it learned its lessons and found the appropriate techniques, has come into its own in the last two decades. Its extension is regarded as an essential feature in national development. Most parts of the continent lack permanent streams ; but among the ranges which run parallel to the eastern coastline are several areas high enough and wide enough to form catchments yielding large volumes of water. Some are snow-clad for several months, and thus have a run-off which tends to have a better distribution than others. .Among these, the plexus of ranges and tablelands in the Mt. Kosciusko region of the south-east is the outstanding example. This area contains the Murray catchment and those of its tributaries, the Murrumbidgee and the Tumut, and of the Snowy. The Murray has a system of storages and locks developed during the last forty years, while the Murrumbidgee has the Burrinjuck storage and several locks. The Hume reservoir on the Murray holds 1,250,000 acre feet, and will be extended to hold 2,000,000 acre feet. Burrinjuck holds 662,000 acre feet for irrigation. The Snowy, with an average yearly flow on the tableland of 970.000 acre feet, remains as the largest stream in the region available for future development. It rises under Mt. Kosciusko, and after flowing north, turns southward and falls rapidly near the border of New South Wales and Victoria to reach the ocean near Orbost. Its lower reaches have a considerable system of alluvial flats which do not need irrigation, but the country surrounding them is too poor and too uneven to be worthy of intensive development. From the agricultural point of view it is therefore preferable that the water should be diverted across the ranges towards the dry inland.
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WADHAM, S., MYERS, D. The Snowy River Project (S.E. Australia). Nature 164, 423–424 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164423a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164423a0