List of drainage basins of Australia

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A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain, melting snow, ice or glacier's drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, stream, lake, reservoir, dam, estuary, wetland, harbour, sea, beach or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into those channels and is separated from adjacent basins by a drainage divide.

Contents

Major drainage basins are coded by hierarchy within the National Catchment Boundaries (NCB) dataset, with primary drainage basins attributed Level 1 and smaller river catchment subdivisions attributed Level 2. Beyond that, minor river and creek watersheds are ranked by the Pfafstetter Coding System. This article deals with surface water rather than groundwater basins, such as the Great Artesian Basin.

Australia has twelve distinguished NCB Level 1 drainage divisions [1] or thirteen [2] after splitting the South East Coast division at the New South Wales–Victoria border as defined by the Australian Water Resources Assessment 2012, a hydrological survey conducted by the Bureau of Meteorology. [3] Runoff from these divisions generally flows into the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean and Lake Eyre.

Australia's 13 drainage divisions Drainage Divisions of Australia.svg
Australia's 13 drainage divisions

List of NCB Level 1 drainage basins

Code [A] NameArea (km2)Average rainfall (mm) [B] Accessible surface storage capacity (GL) [4] Major riversDrains toNotes
NEC North East Coast (Queensland)451,0008279,771 Suttor River, Belyando River, Nogoa River Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean)
SEN South East Coast (NSW) 129,5009954,056 Manning River, Karuah River, Hunter River, Hawkesbury River Tasman Sea (Pacific Ocean)
SEV South East Coast (Victoria) 134,6007347,570 Thomson River (VIC), Macalister River, Snowy River, Yarra River, Glenelg River Southern Ocean, Bass Strait
TAS Tasmania 68,0001,39822,041 River Derwent, Gordon River, Huon River, South Esk River Southern Ocean, Bass Strait, Tasman Sea (Pacific Ocean)Much of the storage capacity is used for hydroelectricity
MDB Murray-Darling Basin 1,061,00045825,320 Murray River, Darling River, Murrumbidgee River, Lachlan River Southern Ocean
SAG South Australian Gulf 117,700306197 River Torrens, Onkaparinga River, Gawler River, Broughton River Great Australian Bight (Southern Ocean)
SWP South Western Plateau 1,093,000232No data Great Australian Bight (Southern Ocean)Driest region in Australia with no major storage
SWC South West Coast 326,000439959 Avon River, Blackwood River Indian Ocean, Great Australian Bight (Southern Ocean)
PG Pilbara-Gascoyne 478,00025963 Greenough River, Murchison River Indian Ocean
NWP North Western Plateau 716,000316No data De Grey River Indian Ocean No major storage
TTS Tanami-Timor Sea Coast1,162,00065610,747 Ord River, Alligator Rivers, Daly River, Katherine River, Fitzroy River Timor Sea (Indian Ocean)
LEB Lake Eyre Basin 1,281,000242No data Georgina River, Diamantina River, Thomson River (QLD), Barcoo River, Cooper Creek Lake Eyre Only major surface Endorheic basin [C]
CC Carpentaria Coast [D] 647,00074499 Mitchell River, Flinders River, Gilbert River, Leichhardt River Gulf of Carpentaria, Arafura Sea

List of NCB Level 2 drainage basins

The following is a list of river or island catchments that are subdivisions of the basin containing them. [1]

North East Coast

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Geofabric Hydrology Reporting Regions - V2.1". data.gov.au. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Australia's water resources". State of the Environment 2016. Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Australian Water Resources Assessment 2012" (PDF). Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "Water Storage". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland . Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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