INTRODUCTION

This chapter covers a number of water transfer schemes in Australia. These are:

1. (1) inter-basin water transfers from Drainage Division IV to V (see Figure 3.12) for water supply of Adelaide and part of South Australia via pipelines from the River Murray;

2. (2) inter-basin water transfer in north-eastern Queensland from Drainage Division I to IX for irrigation water supply of the Mareeba–Dimbulah area;

3. (3) a number of water transfer schemes between (or within) catchments of Drainage Division I in Queensland for domestic and industrial water supply; and

4. (4) water supply of Broken Hill mines and township in New South Wales, partly by transfer of water from Drainage Division X to IV and mostly by diversion of water from Menindee Lakes within Drainage Division IV.

Numerous other water transfer schemes exist in various parts of Australia, which are not described in detail in this book. However, some of these schemes for water supply of Sydney and Melbourne, and hydro-power generation in Tasmania are described in Appendix H. These are supplemented by basic features of some other schemes.

RIVER MURRAY PIPELINES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

INTRODUCTION

South Australia covers an area of 984 377 km2 or about 12.8 percent of the total area of Australia and was settled by Europeans in the 1830s. It is the driest State in Australia, with approximately 80 percent of the State receiving an average annual rainfall of less than 250 mm (see Figure 3.2). The wettest parts of the State are the Mount Lofty Ranges immediately east of Adelaide, the Flinders Ranges, and the southern coast.