Riverina
Riverina is the name of a region in the southwest of the state of New South Wales in Australia . The combination of flat plains, a hot climate and numerous rivers make Riverina one of the most agriculturally productive regions in Australia. It borders the state of Victoria to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the east . The catchment areas of the Murray River and the Murrumbidgee River are also located in the area .
geography
The main cities in the region are Wagga Wagga , Albury and Griffith . In Wagga Wagga and Albury, there is also the Charles Sturt University , which is spread over several locations and is the only institution in the region to offer the opportunity to study.
The boundaries of the region are not clearly defined by the Australian government or any other institution. The arable and grazing land is generally west of the Great Dividing Range and in the catchment area of the Murray River and the Murrumbidgee River . The border in the north forms the catchment area of the Lachlan River , which is also known as Central West . The Murray River in the south forms the border between the Riverina and the state of New South Wales to the state of Victoria . In the west, at the confluence of the Murray River and the Murrumbidgee River, the drier Far West region begins . The plain has been the alluvial land of several rivers that have their source in the Great Dividing Range for 30,000 to 15,000 years. A large part of the area was created by the deposition of alluvial soils . In the eastern part of the area there are some gentle hills. The terrain flattens out further and further towards the west.
climate
The Bureau of Meteorology , a meteorological organization in Australia, classifies the Riverina's climate as dry and warm with cool winters. It can get very hot in summer in some areas of the region. During the winter, the nights are often cool. The average daily temperature in Wagga Wagga , for example, is 12.4 ° C in July (southern winter) and 33.2 ° C in January. Rainfall in the Riverina is usually low. The region's average rainfall is between 250 mm and 500 mm. In the eastern peripheral areas it is a little higher at up to 800 mm. In the southern part of the region, most of the rain falls in the winter months, while in the north the amount of precipitation is distributed fairly uniformly over the year. In 2006, the lowest amount of rainfall since records began was recorded in the towns of Lockhart , Tarcutta and Narrandera .
history
The region has been home to several Aboriginal tribes for over 40,000 years. Much of the Riverina is the tribal area of the Wiradjuri who live along the Murrumbidgee River and the Lachlan River. Other tribes also live along the Murrumbidgee River in the western plains, including the Nari-Nari, Mudi-Mudi, Gurendji, and the Yida-Yida. The Yorta Yorta inhabited the area north and south of the Murray River from Albury to Finley . Other tribes also lived along the Murray, such as the Bangerang, the Baraba-Baraba, the Wamba-Wamba, the Wadi-Wadi or the Dadi-Dadi. The rivers played a leading role in Aboriginal life. They served as a source of food and as a route for trade and communication.
Especially the codfish Maccullochella peelii, which are widespread in the Murray Darling Basin, and shellfish served as food. The rivers were navigated by the natives with simple canoes made of bark. There are still scars on many old trees that indicate the heavy use of canoes.
History of the settlers
The first European explorer to explore the Riverina was John Oxley , who followed the Lachlan River in 1817. The next to venture into this terrain was British captain and explorer Charles Sturt . Between 1828 and 1831 he followed the Murrumbidgee River downstream to Lake Alexandrina in South Australia . The cartographer Thomas Livingstone Mitchell also crossed the area in 1836 on his way to Wimmera and what is now the Western District .
Soon after the initial settlement, pasture farming was practiced along the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. The historic Murrumbidgee District was also created at that time . The place Moulamein in the west was founded in 1830 and is therefore the oldest city in the Riverina and older than Melbourne .
The current name of the region first appeared in the local newspaper Albury Border Post on January 24, 1857. The text with the headline "Riverine Colony" did not refer to Australian territory, but to the short-term independence of the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes , which lie between the two rivers Río Paraná and Río Uruguay . The text was translated from Spanish by the Presbyterian pastor and politician John Dunmore Lang , who campaigned for Australia's independence. Due to the location of the area, the name Riverina was used increasingly and eventually became the official name of the region.
Conflicts often arose between the settlers and the indigenous people of the Riverina. In the area around Narrandera, for example, there was a battle between the settlers and the local Narrungderra tribe. Only one person is said to have survived this fight, which is called Massacre Island .
Livestock was the main industry during the 1840s. Above all, sheep breeding, which was used for meat and wool production, was given a dominant position. During the gold rush in Victoria , many sheep and cattle from the Riverina served as food for the prospectors.
In the 1860s and 1870s, German settlers followed the North Para River , which forms the Barossa Valley , upstream and settled east of the Riverina. They were supporters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and preferred to form their own localities. In 1869, 56 German farmers founded the city of Walla Walla after a six-week and more than 950 km long journey in covered wagons .
Expansion of the traffic routes
From the middle of the 19th century, barges were used to transport goods on the two rivers Murray River and Murrumbidgee River. These connected the rural areas with the inland ports in Mannum and Goolwa in the southwest. As early as 1864 there was a railway line from Echuca to Melbourne . Inland navigation reached its peak in the twenty years from 1870 to 1890. After that, this steadily decreased due to the expansion of the railway.
In 1876 another broad gauge railway ran from Melbourne to Deniliquin and west to Moulamein and Balranald . The Moulamein-Balranald line was closed in the 1980s due to severe damage caused by flooding. The line between Albury and Melbourne was completed in 1883. In 1928 the last railway line in the Riverina region was completed. It ran from Kerang and Murrabit to Stony Crossing .
Expansion of the irrigation industry
Large-scale irrigation began in 1912 when the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) was established, which is still an important growing area today. Water was diverted from the Murrumbidgee River near Narrandera . 26 weirs on the Murray River made it possible in 1915 to ensure permanent shipping to Echuca. Since shipping became less important, the lock systems were later used for irrigation. Over time, more and more large settlements emerged in the Riverina that had to be supplied with water, which is why three dams were built in the 20th century: the Hume Dam (1931), the Burrinjuck Dam (1928) and the Blowering Dam (1968 ; Snowy Mountains System ).
In addition to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area , other areas have been developed that are fed by the water of the Murray River. In 1968, with the Coleambally Irrigation Area, the irrigation of an area in the Riverina was funded by the state for the last time.
Agriculture
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The high fertility of the soil and the relatively high amount of water in the rivers have made the Riverina one of the most important agricultural regions in Australia. Rice, wheat, maize and rapeseed as well as citrus fruits and wine are grown on an irrigated area of 182,000 hectares. Cattle and sheep are kept in the drier areas.
Wool
Much of the arid areas of the Riverina consists of large sheep farms. Merino breeds are mostly used to produce wool . In the 19th century the brothers bred Peppin near Wanganella a new race called the Peppin Merino. This is the most common breed in the Riverina region today.
rice
Nowhere in Australia is there so much rice grown as in the Riverina. In addition to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, cultivation areas also include areas around the villages of Finley , Coleambally and Deniliquin . The first commercial rice cultivation began in 1924 near Leeton and Yanco . During the Second World War , the farmers of Wakool also started growing. Denimein, Coleambally, Finley and the Deniboota Irrigation Area followed in the 1950s and 1960s. In recent years new rice growing areas have sprung up in the Hay , Carrathool and Hillston areas .
Today Australia produces more than a million tons of rice every year and exports it to 70 countries. The export income amounted to 500 million AUD . Rice is grown in 63 towns in the Riverina and in the north of Victoria. The country's largest rice trading company , Ricegrowers Limited , is headquartered in Leeton.
Wine
The Riverina is one of the most prosperous wine growing regions in Australia after the Barossa Valley in South Australia . The region grows 55% of all New South Wales and 15% of Australia's grapes. More than half of the wine produced is exported. For example, noble lazy Sémillon is grown , from which a dessert wine similar to Sauternes is made.
The first vines were planted in the spring of 1913 at Hanwood by John James McWilliam and his eldest son Jack, who already had a winery in Junee . Just a few months later the irrigation canals were built. The first grapes were picked in 1916 and transported to Junee for processing.
Flora and fauna
Riverina ecoregion
The Australian environmental agency New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service divides the state of New South Wales into 17 ecoregions . The Riverina ecoregion extends from Ivanhoe in New South Wales south to Bendigo and from Narrandera in the east to Balranald in the west. Thus, the region includes large parts of the Riverina as well as areas in northern Victoria. New South Wales has 74.03% of the ecoregion, with the remainder in Victoria.
Several types of eucalyptus grow in the river valleys of the ecoregion , such as the red eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ) and acacia ( Acacia stenophylla ). In the higher areas there are eucalyptus forests of the species Eucalyptus largiflorens . There are also reports , salt marshes and olearia . In areas that are rarely flooded, the eucalyptus species Eucalyptus melliodora and Eucalyptus microcarpa grow together with ornamental cypresses ( Callitris columellaris ). In the arid areas of the Riverina there are hardy plants such as logs, Maireana species and grape oats .
The forests of the Riverina are inhabited by Kurzkopfgleitbeutler , feather-tailed glider, and medium -sized gliding squirrel, as well as koalas . The introduced neozoa and neophytes, as well as deforestation and the creation of pastureland, have led to a decline in native flora and fauna.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ en: Map of the Riverina region from cartoscope.com.au
- ↑ en: Geography of the Riverina ( Memento of the original from September 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. National Parks and Wildlife Service
- ↑ en: Hot Dry Zone (with cooler winter) Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)
- ↑ en: Seasonal rainfall zones of Australia ( Memento of the original from March 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)
- ↑ en: New South Wales in 2006 El Niño brings an exceptionally hot and very dry year Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
- ↑ a b c d en: Riverina - regional history ( Memento of the original from September 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. National Parks and Wildlife Service
- ↑ en: Australian Museum's Aboriginal Collections: Wiradjuri ( Memento of the original of September 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Australian Museum - Kathy Patrick and Samantha Simmons.
- ↑ en: Aboriginal heritage - The Nari Nari Tribe ( Memento from June 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Hay Tourism & Development Inc.
- ↑ en: European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights ( Memento of the original of April 24, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Haslem, Benjamin; Schubert, Misha; Rintoul, Stuart (2002)
- ↑ en: Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia Project Gutenberg - Charles Sturt.
- ↑ en: Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1 by Mitchell Project Gutenberg - Thomas Mitchell.
- ↑ a b c en: Riverina History & Data Riverina Wine Grape Marketing Board
- ↑ en History of Narrandera Narrandera Shire Council.
- ↑ en: Victorian Railways Timeline Mark Bau's VR Website
- ↑ en: History of the Swan Hill Riverboats Swan Hill Genealogical & Historical Society Inc.
- ↑ en: Information sheet: History of rice in Australia Ricegrowers Association of Australia Inc.
- ↑ en: Rice Facts ( Memento of the original dated December 30, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Ricegrowers Association of Australia Inc.
- ↑ en: Riverina, New South Wales - Wine Regions ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.
