Ord
Physical information

General description

Area: 65,800 km²
Population: 9,000 (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2013)

The Ord region is located in the East Kimberley region of Australia, as shown in Figure P1. The region overlaps the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. About 75% of the region is in Western Australia.


Figure P1  Map of the Ord region within Australia
Figure P1  Map of the Ord region within Australia


The boundary of the Ord region is physically defined by two surface water catchments: those of the Ord River and the Keep River. This is shown in Figure P2.


Figure P2  Contextual map of the Ord region
Figure P2  Contextual map of the Ord region


Ord River catchment

Area: 53,800 km²

The Ord River catchment is one of the major river systems in northern Australia and forms the greater part of the Ord region. It extends from the Kimberley Plateau in the south and discharges into the Cambridge Gulf near Wyndham, via the Ord River estuary.

The Ord River catchment includes the King River which supplies water to the town of Wyndham.


Keep River catchment

Area: 12,000 km²

The Keep River catchment lies in the northeast of the Ord region. It extends from the Pinkerton Range in the southeast and discharges into the Timor Sea.


Description of the region

The Ord region is physically defined by the boundaries of the Ord River and King River catchments and includes all water resources within or beneath the physical area.

The region includes water stored in and transactions related to:

  • surface water storages in the region
  • rivers within the region
  • groundwater aquifers beneath the region.

The Ord region excludes water stored in and transactions related to:

  • water held in pipes and infrastructure of the urban water system
  • off-channel water storages and rainwater tanks, such as farm dams and private commercial water storages used to harvest runoff or collect rainwater
  • water held in the landscape, such as soil moisture.

For more information regarding items in this water accounting report, please refer to the Water accounting policies note.


Land use

The Ord region contains several urban centres, remote stations and Aboriginal settlements. The largest urban centres in the region are:

  • Kununurra: urban centre population 4,600
  • Halls Creek: urban centre population 1,400
  • Wyndham: urban locality population 800 (ABS 2013).

Other settlements in the region include Warmun, Durack, and Lake Argyle Village.

Major land uses in the Ord region include:

  • pastoral grazing
  • conservation and natural environments
  • irrigated agriculture.

The relative area of each major land use in the Ord region is shown in Table P1 and Figure P3 (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2010).

 

Table P1  Land use in the Ord region

Land use

Area (km2)

Area (%)

conservation and natural environments

12,742

19

dryland agriculture

53

<0.1

forestry

37

<0.1

grazing

52,100

80

irrigated agriculture

150

<0.3

mining

12

<0.1

other intensive uses

0

0

urban

9

<0.1

water

697

1

Total

65,800


 

Most irrigated agriculture occurs in the Ord River Irrigation Area and land adjacent to the Ord River that has access to water for irrigation. All of this land is downstream of Lake Argyle. A variety of crops are grown in these areas with the major crops being sandalwood, mahogany, and a range of horticultural crops and grains.

Key mining activities in the region include diamonds and nickel. Argyle Diamond Mine is situated near Lake Argyle and uses water from Lake Argyle for its operations. Nickel is also mined approximately 120 km north of Halls Creek.

Pastoral grazing, generally cattle, occurs throughout the entire region.


Figure P3  Map of land use in the Ord region
Figure P3  Map of land use in the Ord region


There are over 4,000 km² of parks and reserves in the Ord region, including:

These areas, which are identified as 'Conservation and natural environments' in Figure P3, are of cultural significance and form the basis of the tourism industry in the region.


Significant aquatic ecosystems

The region contains several significant aquatic ecosystems (as shown in Figure P4):


Figure P4  Map of significant wetlands in the Ord region
Figure P4  Map of significant wetlands in the Ord region


The Ord River and associated aquatic ecosystems have a strong cultural significance for a number of Aboriginal groups, particularly the Miriuwung and Gajerrong peoples. Further information is available in the study of Aboriginal Cultural Values of the Ord River and Wetlands (2003).

Water resources

There are five major surface water resources in the Ord region:

  • Lake Argyle
  • Lake Kununurra
  • Arthur Creek storage, located on a tributary of the Dunham River
  • Ord River channel, downstream of Lake Kununurra
  • Moochalabra storage, located on the King River.

There are two groundwater resources in the Ord region:

  • Kununurra aquifers
  • Halls Creek aquifers.

Tributaries of the Ord River, both upstream and downstream of Lake Argyle, provide additional water resources.

Surface water resources support the main water users in the region, including irrigated agriculture, hydroelectric power generation, commercial forestry, and urban and self-supply licensees.

Groundwater resources in the region are primarily used for mine dewatering and operations and urban supply.


Surface water

Surface water resources of the Ord region are highly developed due to the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Lake Argyle is used to supply water to irrigated agriculture and forestry. Other minor storages and tributaries are used to supply townships and self-supply irrigators.


Major storages

A major storage is any water storage that has a storage capacity of 1 GL (1,000 ML) or more, as defined in the Water Regulations 2008. Details of major storages in the Ord region are listed in Table P2, and a map of their location within the region is shown in Figure P5.


Table P2  Major storages in the Ord region

Storage

Total storage capacity (ML)

Dead storage capacity (ML)

Purpose of water supply

Arthur Creek

65,000

unknown

  • Supplies private company Tropical Forestry Services Corporation.

Lake Argyle

10,755,830

324,000

  • releases for hydroelectric power generation
  • releases for irrigation
  • releases for environmental water provision
  • mining
  • urban supply

Lake Kununurra

100,825

87,000

  • Directly receives releases from Lake Argyle.
  • Supplies Ord River Irrigation Area.
  • Supplies adjacent self-supply irrigators.

Moochalabra

2,023

175

  • town supply for Wyndham

Total

10,923,678

411,175

 


Lake Argyle is located on the Ord River. Downstream of Lake Argyle is Lake Kununurra. The Dunham River flows into the Ord River just downstream of Lake Kununurra. Arthur Creek storage is located on a tributary of the Dunham River.

Moochalabra storage is located on the King River in the western part of the Ord region (Figure P5).


Figure P5  Map of major storages in the Ord region
Figure P5  Map of major storages in the Ord region


Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle is formed by the Ord River Dam, and collects runoff from the Ord River catchment. Annual runoff varies markedly, which reflects the highly variable nature of rainfall and runoff across the region. Water is released from Lake Argyle for hydroelectric power generation, and the resulting flows are used to supply downstream users and meet environmental water provisions in the lower Ord River.

The Argyle Diamond Mine can also abstract water under licence from Lake Argyle if their private water storages provide insufficient water.


Lake Kununurra

Lake Kununurra is formed by the Kununurra Diversion Dam, and the majority of inflows come from water released from Lake Argyle. Runoff from the catchment between the Lake Argyle and the Kununurra Diversion Dam (approximately 1,000 km²) also contributes inflows into the lake during the wet season. The lake is primarily used to supply water to the Ord River Irrigation Area and other small-scale irrigation. Water supplied to the Ord River Irrigation Area represents almost 90% of the total surface water entitlements in the Ord region.


Arthur Creek

Arthur Creek, located on the Dunham River, is a large private storage. The storage is used for self-supply irrigation for the Tropical Forestry Services Corporation. 


Moochalabra

Moochalabra, located on the King River, is a storage used for urban water supply for the town of Wyndham.


Rivers

Seasonal flow characteristics of rivers within the Ord region reflect the annual rainfall pattern of the region. Most of the rainfall occurs during the wet season between November and March. Consequently, most of the streamflow within the region occurs between January and May (Figure P6). The location of the three gauging stations used to represent the general seasonal flow patterns of the Ord region in Figure P6 are shown in Figure P7. There are other gauging stations in the Ord region though they are not shown in this map.

Upstream of Lake Argyle, flows are very low or cease to flow during the dry season between April and October. The Ord River below Lake Argyle receives specific releases to maintain minimum environmental flows in the lower Ord River. Consequently, flow in the lower Ord River is perennial (Figure P6).


Figure P6  Graph of mean monthly flows along the Ord (upper and lower) and Negri rivers and mean monthly rainfall for the Ord region
Figure P6  Graph of mean monthly flows along the Ord (upper and lower) and Negri rivers and mean monthly rainfall for the Ord region


Figure P7  Location map of key flow gauging stations along the main rivers within the Ord region
Figure P7  Location map of key flow gauging stations along the main rivers within the Ord region


Other rivers in the Ord region, such as the Dunham, Keep and King rivers, also exhibit seasonal flow patterns similar to rivers upstream of Lake Argyle.


Licensed river access

Self-supply licensees access rivers for commercial mining and forestry operations, small scale irrigation, and stock and domestic purposes. Licensed river access represents about 10% of the total surface water entitlements in the Ord region.

Private irrigation development at Arthur Creek on the Dunham River is the largest entitlement in the region outside of the Ord River Irrigation Area, with approximately 20,000 ML per annum licensed for diversion.

The Keep River is not currently accessed as a water resource. The Western Australian Government plans to develop the resource as part of the Ord–East Kimberley Expansion Project (see Major water initiatives for more information).

The Ord River, downstream of Lake Argyle, is regulated by releases of water from Lake Argyle to maintain flows in the lower Ord River (Figure P6). Self-supply licensees access the river for small scale irrigation, industrial, commercial, and stock and domestic purposes.


Groundwater

Groundwater resources in the region are not extensively developed. Borefields in localised fractured rock aquifers are used for urban supply to Halls Creek and mining operations in the upper reaches of the Ord region. Sedimentary aquifers adjacent to Lake Kununurra are used to supply the town of Kununurra.

Groundwater monitoring occurs in sedimentary aquifers underlying the Ord River Irrigation Area. Although no groundwater is used for irrigation, the focus of the groundwater monitoring is the rising water table caused by irrigation activities.

An expansion of the monitoring bore network and improved understanding of aquifer extent, properties, and groundwater processes would be required if groundwater resources in the region were to be developed.


Other water resources and systems

Irrigation scheme

The Ord River Irrigation Area comprises an open canal network that is used to distribute water for irrigated agriculture. About 130 km² is irrigated on the Ivanhoe Plain (to the east and north of the river), with 20 km² irrigated on the Packsaddle Plain (to the west of the river), as shown in Figure P8.

Irrigation water is diverted from the Ord River at Lake Kununurra to the Ivanhoe and Packsaddle plains via the M1 Channel and the Packsaddle pump station respectively. Most of the water is diverted to the Ivanhoe Plain and about 10% is diverted to the Packsaddle Plain (Department of Water 2013).


Figure P8  Map of the Ord River Irrigation Area
Figure P8  Map of the Ord River Irrigation Area


Areas of proposed irrigation expansion within the Ord region are described in the Major water initiatives section of the 'Water overview'.