National Water Account 2024

Focus area

The Border Rivers catchment lies within the northeastern part of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Average annual rainfall ranges from approximately 400 mm in the west to 800 mm in the east.
The catchment's climate is sub-tropical. Rainfall occurs throughout the year with most rainfall occurring during the summer months. Higher streamflows typically occur during these months.

Figure C1 Annual and monthly rainfall deciles for the Border Rivers catchment during the 2023–24 year

The area-average rainfall for the Border Rivers region was average for most of the region during 2023-24. The eastern parts of the region did however experience below average to very much below average rainfall.
Rainfall was very low during July to October 2023 before the month of November where the region experienced very-much above average rainfall.
The region experienced two more above after months of rainfall, January 2024 and April 2024 which was the region's highest on record.

Figure C2 Annual and monthly soil moisture deciles for the Border Rivers catchment during the 2023–24 year

Soil moisture in the root zone (0–1 m depth) was average for most of the region with the eastern part of the region being below average.
During July to October 2023 with little rainfall, the regions root zone soil moisture dried to be very-much below average with the eastern parts of the region experiencing the lowest on record.
The rainfall in November 2023 increased the soil moisture to average to above average in the western part of the region but the eastern part remained below average.
Soil moisture was average from December 2023 to March 2024. In April 2024, the region experienced some large rainfall events which saturated the soil to very-much above average to above average across the region.
More information on soil moisture distribution across the catchment is available in the Australian Water Outlook.