Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Water resources - Overview - Queensland

Location map of Great Artesian Basin - Warrego - Queensland

Groundwater Management Unit: Great Artesian Basin - Warrego - Queensland

Introduction

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) comprises 23 hydrologic zones (accounting for interstate / territory boundaries). These zones were determined by the Great Artesian Basin Consultative Council (GABCC) in 1999. The total area of the GAB is approximately 1.8 million sq km.

The Warrego (QLD) Groundwater Management Unit (GMU) is one of these hydrologic zones. Its area is about 150 thousand sq km which accounts for 8.3% of the total GAB area.

The Warrego (QLD) zone lies a little east of the centre of the GAB. It extends up to 420m north of the New South Wales border and extends east- west at a maximum width of 420 m. The towns of Charleville and Cunnamulla lie within the Warrego (QLD) zone.

Natural surface levels predominantly range from 100 m to 500 m increasing towards the north.

Rainfall in the Warrego (QLD) zone varies from below 250 mm/yr in the west, to about 450 mm/yr towards the east of the zone. Evaporation generally exceeds average annual rainfall by between 1600 and 3200 mm/yr. This deficit increases towards the west.

The dominant land use is for sheep and cattle industry purposes.

Freehold Land tenure predominates this zone with about 30% existing as Leasehold Land and a further 5% Reserved for Nature Conservation.

Most of the Warrego (QLD) zone is covered by varieties of woodland. Along the western boundary, some shrubland exists and in a small section on the eastern boundary, closed forest may be found.

Vital Statistics:

Area: 150,000 Km2
Total water allocated: no data
Total water consumed: 59,400 ML/yr
Average salinity: 514 mg/l
Sustainable yield: 48,960 ML/yr
Depth to top of aquifier: 0 m

Further Information

Key

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