Murray River

The Murray River (or River Murray[n 1]) (Ngarrindjeri: Muroondi, Yorta Yorta: Tongala)[1] is
Australia's longest river, at 2,508 kilometres (1,558 mi) in length.[2] The Murray rises in the
Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains, and then
meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between the states of New
South Wales and Victoria as it flows to the northwest into South Australia. It turns south at
Morgan for its final 315 kilometres (196 mi), reaching the ocean at Lake Alexandrina.

The water of the Murray flows through several terminal lakes that fluctuate in salinity (and
were often fresh until recent decades) including Lake Alexandrina and The Coorong before
emptying through the Murray Mouth into the southeastern portion of the Indian Ocean,
often referenced on Australian maps as the Southern Ocean, near Goolwa.[3] Despite
discharging considerable volumes of water at times, particularly before the advent of large-
scale river regulation, the mouth has always been comparatively small and shallow.

As of 2010, the Murray River system receives 58 percent of its natural flow.[4] It is perhaps
Australia's most important irrigated region, and it is widely known as the food bowl of the
nation.

Geography
The Murray River forms part of the 3,750 km (2,330 mi) long combined Murray–Darling river
system which drains most of inland Victoria, New South Wales, and southern Queensland.
Overall the catchment area is one-seventh of Australia's total land mass. The Murray carries
only a small fraction of the water of comparably-sized rivers in other parts of the world, and
with a great annual variability of its flow. In its natural state it has even been known to dry
up completely during extreme droughts, although that is extremely rare, with only two or
three instances of this occurring since official record keeping began.

The Murray River makes up most of the border between the Australian states of Victoria
and New South Wales. Where it does, the border is the top of the bank of the Victorian side
of the river (i.e., none of the river itself is actually in Victoria).[5] This was determined in a
1980 ruling by the High Court of Australia, which settled the question as to which state had
jurisdiction in the unlawful death of a man who was fishing by the river's edge on the
Victorian side of the river.[6] This boundary definition can be ambiguous, since the river
changes its course over time, and some of the river banks have been modified.

West of the line of longitude 141°E, the river continues as the border between Victoria and
South Australia for approximately 11 km (6.8 mi), where this is the only stretch where a
state border runs down the middle of the river.[7] This was due to a miscalculation during
the 1840s, when the border was originally surveyed. Past this point, the Murray River is
entirely within the state of South Australia.

The Murray River (and associated tributaries) support a variety of river life adapted to its
vagaries. This includes a variety of native fish such as the famous Murray cod, trout cod,
golden perch, Macquarie perch, silver perch, eel-tailed catfish, Australian smelt, and
western carp gudgeon, and other aquatic species like the Murray short-necked turtle,
Murray River crayfish, broad-clawed yabbies, and the large clawed Macrobrachium shrimp,
as well as aquatic species more widely distributed through southeastern Australia such as
common longnecked turtles, common yabbies, the small claw-less paratya shrimp, water
rats, and platypus. The Murray River also supports fringing corridors and forests of the river
red gum.

The health of the Murray River has declined significantly since European settlement,
particularly due to river regulation, and much of its aquatic life including native fish are now
declining, rare or endangered. Recent extreme droughts (2000–07) have put significant
stress on river red gum forests, with mounting concern over their long-term survival. The
Murray has also flooded on occasion, the most significant of which was the flood of 1956,
which inundated many towns on the lower Murray and which lasted for up to six months.

Introduced fish species such as carp, gambusia, weather loach, redfin perch, brown trout,
and rainbow trout have also had serious negative effects on native fish, while carp have
contributed to environmental degradation of the Murray River and tributaries by destroying
aquatic plants and permanently raising turbidity. In some segments of the Murray River,
carp have become the only species found.

Ancient history
Lake Bungunnia
Between 2.5 and 0.5 million years ago the Murray River terminated in a vast freshwater lake
called Lake Bungunnia. Lake Bungunnia was formed by earth movements that blocked the
Murray River near Swan Reach during this period. At its maximum extent Lake Bungunnia
covered 33,000 km2 (12,741 sq mi), extending to near the Menindee Lakes in the north and
to near Boundary Bend on the Murray in the south.[9] The draining of Lake Bungunnia
occurred approximately 600,000 years ago.[10]

Deep clays deposited by the lake are evident in cliffs around Chowilla in South Australia.
Considerably higher rainfall would have been required to keep such a lake full; the draining
of Lake Bungunnia appears to mark the end of a wet phase in the history of the Murray-
Darling Basin and the onset of widespread arid conditions similar to today. A species of
Neoceratodus lungfish existed in Lake Bungunnia (McKay & Eastburn, 1990); today
Neoceratodus lungfish are only found in several Queensland rivers.

Cadell Fault and formation of the Barmah Red Gum Forests

Main article: Cadell Fault
The noted Barmah River Red Gum Forests owe their existence to the Cadell Fault. About
25,000 years ago, displacement occurred along the Cadell fault, raising the eastern edge of
the fault, which runs north-south, 8 to 12 m (26 to 39 ft) above the floodplain. This created a
complex series of events. A section of the original Murray River channel immediately behind
the fault was abandoned, and it exists today as an empty channel known as Green Gully.
The Goulburn River was dammed by the southern end of the fault to create a natural lake.

The Murray River flowed to the north around the Cadell Fault, creating the channel of the
Edward River which exists today and through which much of the Murray River's waters still
flow. Then the natural dam on the Goulburn River failed, the lake drained, and the Murray
River avulsed to the south and started to flow through the smaller Goulburn River channel,
creating "The Barmah Choke" and "The Narrows" (where the river channel is unusually
narrow), before entering into the proper Murray River channel again.

This complex series of events, however, diverts attention from the primary result of the
Cadell Fault – that the west-flowing water of the Murray River strikes the north-south fault
and diverts both north and south around the fault in the two main channels (Edward and
ancestral Goulburn) as well as a fan of small streams, and regularly floods a large amount of
low-lying country in the area. These conditions are perfect for River Red Gums, which
rapidly formed forests in the area. Thus the displacement of the Cadell Fault 25,000 BP led
directly to the formation of the famous Barmah River Red Gum Forests.

The Barmah Choke and The Narrows mean the amount of water that can travel down this
part of the Murray River is restricted. In times of flood and high irrigation flows the majority
of the water, in addition to flooding the Red Gum forests, actually travels through the
Edward River channel. The Murray River has not had enough flow power to naturally
enlarge The Barmah Choke and The Narrows to increase the amount of water they can
carry.

The Cadell Fault is quite noticeable as a continuous, low, earthen embankment as one drives
into Barmah from the west, although to the untrained eye it may appear man-made.

The confluence of the Darling and Murray Rivers at Wentworth, New South Wales
Murray mouth
Main article: Murray Mouth
The Murray Mouth is the point at which the Murray River empties into the sea,[3] and the
interaction between its shallow, shifting and variable currents and the open sea can be
complex and unpredictable. During the peak period of Murray River commerce (roughly
1855 to 1920), it presented a major impediment to the passage of goods and produce
between Adelaide and the Murray settlements, and many vessels foundered or were
wrecked there.

Since the early 2000s, dredging machines have operated at the Murray Mouth, moving sand
from the channel to maintain a minimal flow from the sea and into the Coorong's lagoon
system. Without the 24-hour dredging, the mouth would silt up and close, cutting the supply
of fresh sea-water into the Coorong, which would then warm up, stagnate and die.

Murray Mouth viewed from Hindmarsh Island

Mythology
Being one of the major river systems on one of the driest continents on Earth, the Murray
has significant cultural relevance to Aboriginal Australians. According to the peoples of Lake
Alexandrina, the Murray was created by the tracks of the Great Ancestor, Ngurunderi, as he
pursued Pondi, the Murray Cod. The chase originated in the interior of New South Wales.
Ngurunderi pursued the fish (who, like many totem animals in Aboriginal myths, is often
portrayed as a man) on rafts (or lala) made from red gums and continually launched spears
at his target. But Pondi was a wily prey and carved a weaving path, carving out the river's
various tributaries. Ngurunderi was forced to beach his rafts, and often create new ones as
he changed from reach to reach of the river.

At Kobathatang, Ngurunderi finally got lucky and struck Pondi in the tail with a spear.
However, the shock to the fish was so great it launched him forward in a straight line to a
place called Peindjalang, near Tailem Bend. Eager to rectify his failure to catch his prey, the
hunter and his two wives (sometimes the escaped sibling wives of Waku and Kanu) hurried
on, and took positions high on the cliff on which Tailem Bend now stands. They sprung an
ambush on Pondi only to fail again. Ngurunderi set off in pursuit again but lost his prey as
Pondi dived into Lake Alexandrina. Ngurunderi and his women settled on the shore, only to
suffer bad luck with fishing, being plagued by a water fiend known as Muldjewangk. They
later moved to a more suitable spot at the site of present-day Ashville. The twin summits of
Mount Misery are supposed to be the remnants of his rafts, they are known as Lalangengall
or the two watercraft.

This story of a hunter pursuing a Murray cod that carved out the Murray persists in
numerous forms in various language groups that inhabit the enormous area spanned by the
Murray system. The Wotojobaluk people of Victoria tell of Totyerguil from the area now
known as Swan Hill who ran out of spears while chasing Otchtout the cod.