The Murray-Darling River system

Abstract

The Murray is not the longest of Australian rivers. It traverses 2560 km from the Snowy Mountains to the sea, but is surpassed by the Darling River (via the tributary Condamine), extending over 2740 km. Nor is the Murray remarkable for its flow volume — the mean annual discharge of the entire Murray—Darling system is 22.3 million M 1 less than several other Australian rivers and negligible compared with major systems elsewhere in the world. One claim the system may have to global recognition is that its principal rivers have a combined length of 5300 km Another is that its catchment is 1.073 million km2, or nearly 14% of Australia’s land area.