Land Use

Land use in the catchment is predominantly agricultural with the exception of steeper parts, which are dominated by a mixture of native eucalypt forests and exotic forestry plantations. Agricultural land use varies greatly in intensity and includes pastoral, more intensive grazing, broad-acre cropping, and intensive agriculture in irrigation areas along the mid-lower Murrumbidgee. Landuse map gives an overview of the general land use classification in the Murrumbidgee catchment, showing that grazing is predominant in the west and particularly scattered in the east, whereas dryland cropping dominates the mid Murrumbidgee catchment. Irrigation sites are mainly located in the south of Griffith. Land use data have been sourced by the Bureau of Rural Sciences, Australia.

Source: Bureau of Rural Sciences, Australia

The areal coverage of the major land use types is listed in the table below. The catchment is comprised of about 52% pasture, followed by about 21% arable and 18% silvicultural land use. Other land use types represent less than 9% of the total catchment area.

Land Use Type Area (km²) Area (%)

closed forest 1,310 1.6

open forest 13,381 16.4

plantation 1,148 1.4

woodland 4,537 5.6

woody pasture 1,107 1.4

shrubby pasture 5,534 6.8

pasture 34,406 42.2

irrigated pasture 1,402 1.7

winter crops 13,704 16.8

summer/fodder crops 2,260 2.8

irrigated crops 1,141 1.4

cotton 2 <0.1

horticulture 330 0.4

irrigated horticulture 158 0.2

bare ground 54 0.1

intensive use 312 0.4

water 819 1.0

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