47-509: The Ord Irrigation Area Important Bird Area is an area of land used for irrigated agriculture along the Ord River in the vicinity of the town of Kununurra in the Kimberley region of north-western Australia . It has been identified by BirdLife International as a 220 km Important Bird Area (IBA) for its significance for birds, especially estrildid finches . The IBA comprises
94-427: A Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program . Lake Argyle normally has a surface area of about 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi). The storage capacity, to the top of the spillway is 10,763 gigalitres (3.801 × 10 cu ft). The lake filled to capacity in 1973, and the spillway flowed until 1984. Lake Argyle's usual storage volume
141-635: A double row of jarrah piles driven into the bed of the river, with a core wall of puddle clay between, would appear to form suitable weirs. Between 1935 and 1942 drought affected the Kimberley Pastoral Industry, providing the key motivation for the Ord Scheme. The focus in 1937 was that a dam on the Ord could supplement the pastoral industry. Then Minister for Lands and Agriculture, F J S Wise, in 1937 wrote ...we set
188-606: A location in Western Australia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ord River The Ord River is a 651-kilometre long (405 mi) river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia . The river's catchment covers 55,100 square kilometres (21,274 sq mi). The lower Ord River and the confluence with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord River Irrigation Scheme
235-561: A long and unimpressive history. An example is the Ord River Scheme which currently supports just 260 jobs despite $ 2 billion spent and decades of effort.". A turnaround in fortunes may be on the horizon, with the second half of the 2010s seeing new crops being planted and fresh fruit markets in both South-East Australia and Asia being exploited with greater economic success. In the late 2010s the opening of export markets in China gave
282-556: A plan in motion during the past twelve months in connection with the establishment of experimental areas on Ivanhoe Station somewhere near Carlton Reach. Carlton Reach was the largest waterhole in the Kimberley, being naturally dammed and held back by the Bandicoot Bar, a quartzite rock bar that held back the waterhole for many miles forming a natural permanent lake. In 1939, Michael Durack and Isaac Steinberg traveled to
329-418: A possible remedy to salinity problems. Some concerns have been raised that the large body of water created by the dam could attract Asian insects and birds which may transmit dangerous viruses such as avian influenza . Like so many other experiments in tropical agriculture, the scheme initially failed because of difficulties growing crops and attack from pests. Today the irrigated areas successfully produce
376-662: A reservoir formed by the completion of the main Ord Dam in 1972, some 140 km of cattle grazing land became productive farmland. Farm blocks are typically 260-360 ha in size, on heavy, black cracking clay soils . The main crops include sugarcane , sandalwood , fruit, vegetables and cotton . The IBA supports the largest recorded numbers of star finches and yellow-rumped munias , as well as smaller number of Australian bustards , Bush stone-curlews , white-gaped and yellow-tinted honeyeaters , white-browed robins , masked and long-tailed finches , and sometimes over 1% of
423-699: A variety of fruits and vegetables, with the most recent crop being sandalwood. Associated wetland areas have been preserved within the Lakes Argyle and Kununurra Ramsar Site . Ord water quality and flow contributed to the disappearance of the Common Banana Prawn. The site forms part of the Ord Irrigation Area Important Bird Area (IBA), so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance for wild birds, especially estrildid finches . Much of
470-552: Is 5,797 gigalitres (2.047 × 10 cu ft), making it the largest reservoir in Australia. The combined Lake Gordon / Lake Pedder system in Tasmania is larger but is two dams connected by a canal. At maximum flood level, Lake Argyle would hold 35,000 gigalitres (1.2 × 10 cu ft) of water and cover a surface area of 2,072 square kilometres (800 sq mi). Higher areas have become permanent islands within
517-795: Is definitely the name for the 'Ord'." It was given its English name in honour of Sir Harry St. George Ord GCMG, CB, RE , Governor of Western Australia from 1877 to 1880, by Alexander Forrest on 2 August 1879. Forrest's journal states: We are still 300 miles from the telegraph line and cannot, of course, tell what difficulties may not yet be in store for us, so I feel bound to push on, at the same time no one can regret more than I do that I am unable to follow this magnificent stream to its mouth which I have no doubt will be found in Cambridge Gulf—the whole of its waters, in that case, being in Western Australian territory. I have named this river
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#1732776723254564-671: The Cambridge Gulf , which is at the southern extremity of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf , Timor Sea . The river has 35 tributaries of which the five longest are Bow River , Nicholson River , Dunham River , Panton River and Negri Rivers . The idea of damming the Ord was first mentioned over 100 years ago, when the Western Australia Commissioner of Tropical Agriculture, Adrian Despeissis, suggested, Substantial wooden dams constructed on
611-632: The Joseph Bonaparte Gulf , close to the border with the Northern Territory . The primary inflow is the Ord River , while the Bow River and many other smaller creeks also flow into the dam. The lake is a DIWA-listed wetland . Lake Argyle and Lake Kununurra were listed in 1990 as Ramsar Convention protected wetlands. Argyle mine was previously situated here from 1985 until November 2020 following several years of discoveries and yielded 865 million carats of diamonds. The construction of
658-596: The Ord River Dam was completed in 1971 by Dravo Corporation . The dam was officially opened the following year. The dam wall is 335 metres (1,099 ft) long, and 98 metres (322 ft) high. The earth-fill only dam wall at Lake Argyle is the most efficient dam in Australia in terms of the ratio of the size of the dam wall to the amount of water stored. The lake was named after the property it partly submerged, Argyle Downs. Ord River Dam post office opened on 1 March 1969 and closed on 15 November 1971 demonstrating
705-772: The 13 years between 1946 and 1959 various agricultural experiments were undertaken at KRS and in April 1959 the KRSSC recommended the establishment of a pilot farm. In August 1959, the Commonwealth Government made a grant of £5m to the Government of Western Australia , most to be used for the Ord River Scheme. The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA), which was originally known as the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS) or Ord River Project, when it
752-620: The Ord Irrigation Scheme for a return of 17 cents for every dollar spent. In 2016 the Auditor General for Western Australia reported that "The sustained social and economic benefits underpinning the decision to proceed with this $ 529 million investment have not been realized. Nor is there a plan to track and assess them." The Australia Institute reported that "Attempts to develop northern Australia by subsidizing capital-intensive industries like irrigated agriculture have
799-854: The Ord River Irrigation Area with water via the Main Channel (M1C1). The main channel is visible in the photograph with Lake Kununurra, Ord River (formerly the Carlton Reach waterhole, Ord River) in the background. To test the commercial viability of the ORIA, the WA Government, passed an act of parliament, known as the Northern Development (Ord River) Act, and in October 1960, ratified an agreement with
846-419: The Ord River Irrigation Area, Kununurra. These investigations identified about 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi) of Cockatoo Sands and about 24 square kilometres (9.3 sq mi) of Pago Sands on Carlton Hill Station suitable for fodder or perennial crops. The Cockatoo Sands have great potential because they are well-drained and have capacity to support agriculture throughout the wet season. As part of
893-846: The Ord River has caused major changes to the environment. Flows to the Ord River have been severely reduced. Within Lake Argyle itself a thriving new eco-system has developed. The lake is recognised as an important wetland area under the Ramsar Convention ; with Lake Kununurra it forms the Lakes Argyle and Kununurra Ramsar Site . The lake is now home to 26 species of native fish and a population of freshwater crocodiles currently estimated at some 25,000. Fish species that are present in Lake Argyle include barramundi , southern saratoga , archer fish , forktail cat fish , mouth almighty , long tom , bony bream and sleepy cod . While
940-432: The Ord Scheme a potential basis for financial sustainability. The Ord River dams provide water for irrigation to over 117 square kilometres (45 sq mi) of farmland and extensions to the scheme are underway to allow irrigation of a further 440 square kilometres (170 sq mi). The main Ord River dam also generates power for the local community of Kununurra . By 2009 more than 60 different crops were grown in
987-635: The Ord catchment area. One third of the area was used for sugar cane cultivation until the closure of the Ord Sugar Mill in 2007. In 2012 the release was approved of an additional 74 square kilometres (29 sq mi) of Stage 2 Goomig lands for irrigated agriculture, while the same year the West Australian Department of Agriculture conducted soil and water investigations of the Cockatoo Sands (red loamy sands) near
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#17327767232541034-460: The Ord, after His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia, who has taken so great an interest in this expedition. Marked a tree F 158. The headwaters of the Ord River are located below the 983-metre (3,225 ft) Mount Wells and initially flow east and around the edge of Purnululu National Park before heading north through Lake Argyle then passing west of Kununurra and discharging into
1081-638: The Water for Food government program, the Department of Agriculture also investigated an additional 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) of Cockatoo soils north of Kununurra for possible expansion. In 2009, the Rudd Government and Colin Barnett announced a development plan for the area. The plan emphasised community and infrastructure development including upgrades of Kununurra Airport and
1128-800: The Western Australia Public Works Department (PWD). Several possible dam sites were selected in August 1941 by the newly appointed Director of Works, R. J. Dumas, who spent three weeks in the East Kimberley with a party traveling on horseback along the Ord River and through the Ord River gorges in the Carr Boyd Range. Work continued at the Carlton Reach experimental station for Kim Durack with assistance from his brother William A. Durack, on various agricultural experiments, centred on supplementing
1175-548: The application of large amounts of pesticides on crops. The primary pest was the caterpillar Helicoverpa armigera which developed resistance to the pesticides. The resulting low crop yields combined with a drop in world cotton prices led to suspension of the commercial cotton industry in the region. Work started on the main Ord River Dam in 1969 and was completed before the official opening on 30 June 1972 by Prime Minister William McMahon , when he said: This marks
1222-407: The approximate duration of the construction camp. In 1996, the spillway wall was raised by 6 metres (20 ft), which doubled the dam's capacity. Sediment flowing into the dam caused concerns in the mid-1990s that the dam's capacity could be dramatically reduced. By 2006 continual regeneration of the upper Ord catchment appeared to have reduced the amount of sediment inflow. The dam received
1269-584: The area for thousands of years and know the Ord River as [Goonoonoorrang ] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |label= ( help ) . In a letter to the Surveyor General, dated 12 October 1959, Louise Gardiner, Secretary of the Nomenclature Advisory Committee wrote: " 'Cununurra'...means 'Black Soil'. It is the native name for Ord River. Perhaps it may be the native name for any big river, but according to Mary Durack it
1316-585: The beginning of Ord stage two. The main Ord River Dam, known locally as "Top Dam" holds back the waters of the Ord River in Lake Argyle . The Ord scheme created Lake Argyle, which is Australia's largest dam reservoir, covering an area of 741 square kilometres (286 sq mi). Until the mid-2010s most reports of the scheme derided its lack of economic return. In 2013, the Wilderness Society estimated that $ 1.45 billion had been spent on
1363-425: The company Northern Developments, Ord River Pty Ltd to set up and run the first "pilot farm." This was backed by the WA Government but was to run as a commercial farming venture. By November 1960 the first 81 hectares (200 acres) had been chain-dozed and cleared, a channel and pumps were in place, to irrigate the first commercial rice crop that had been planted on the new pilot farm. This was almost three years before
1410-498: The completion of the Ord River Diversion Dam and main channel, so the pilot farm irrigated by pumping water from the Carlton Reach waterhole. Allocation of commercial farm land during Stage 1 of the project was allocated in stages, with the first group of farmers arriving in 1962 and final allocations completed in 1966. 30 farms produced mostly cotton, however pest problems soon became apparent. The early 1970s saw
1457-399: The edges of Lake Kununurra, as well as in agricultural fallows . The average annual rainfall is 790 mm, falling mainly from October to April. The irrigation and drainage infrastructure was constructed in the early 1960s, with commercial farming taking place from 1963 when Kununurra's Ord Diversion Dam was completed. Using water first from Lake Kununurra, and later from Lake Argyle ,
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1504-542: The entire irrigated area of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme around and downstream of Kununurra, with the adjacent Lake Kununurra extending upstream from the town. The establishment of irrigated farmland has formed perennially moist areas of cumbungi and native wetland grasses , which support larger numbers of several bird species than does the surrounding non-irrigated bushland and dry pasture . The cumbungi and grasses occur along waterways and
1551-468: The lake include the Australian pelican , black swan , eastern great egret , royal spoonbill , osprey and wedge-tailed eagle . Common smaller-bodied bird species include the spinifex pigeon , peaceful dove , common sandpiper , white-winged tern and budgerigar , while mid-sized bird species include the red-winged parrot , blue-winged kookaburra and barking owl . Some threats identified by
1598-627: The lake's area . Lake Argyle, together with Lake Kununurra , is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. There are currently some 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi) of farmland under irrigation in the East Kimberly region. The original plan was for dam water to irrigate rice crop for export to China. However these plans were scuppered as waterfowl, particularly magpie geese ate rice shoots more quickly than they could be planted. Other crops are now grown, but Lake Argyle still remains Australia's most under-utilised lake. The damming of
1645-574: The natural habitat of eight wader species also represented in internationally significant numbers, along with a healthy population of Australian bustards which are considered a "near threatened" species. Birds for which the lake has global importance include magpie geese , wandering whistling-ducks , green pygmy-geese , Pacific black ducks , hardheads , black-necked storks , white-headed stilts , red-capped plovers , Oriental plovers , black-fronted dotterels , long-toed stints and sharp-tailed sandpipers . Common larger-bodied bird species found at
1692-663: The official website states that only incidentally a saltwater crocodile is found, other experts disagree. Cane toads reached the dam in late 2008, mostly via traveling along the Victoria Highway , with numbers rising significantly during the 2009 summer. The lake, with its surrounding mudflats and grasslands , has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports about 150,000 waterbirds with twelve species being represented in large enough numbers to be considered internationally significant. The mud flats and grasslands are
1739-562: The pastoral industry. Early in 1944 Dumas wrote to the Commonwealth Government , advising of the soil, botanical, erosion and engineering surveys about to take place in the East Kimberley, explaining that the project must become largely a national one and any assistance from the Commonwealth would be welcome. By May 1944 there was a large body of agriculturalists, botanists and surveyors carrying out investigations in
1786-494: The population of Australian pratincoles . Other birds found in the IBA include brolgas , little curlews and black-backed bitterns . Letter-winged kites , white-quilled rock-pigeons , varied lorikeets , northern rosellas , bar-breasted and banded honeyeaters are occasionally recorded. 15°41′43″S 128°44′01″E / 15.69528°S 128.73361°E / -15.69528; 128.73361 This article about
1833-608: The port at Wyndham. The Ord River Dam Hydro Scheme is a privately funded, owned and operated power system in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia . It consists of a new 36 MW hydro electric power station at Lake Argyle interconnected, by lengthy 132 kV transmission lines, with existing diesel fuelled power systems at the Argyle diamond mine and the Kununurra township. The scheme can currently only produce 1% of
1880-543: The power the Snowy Mountains Scheme produces. The power station was constructed from 1995 to 1996. CSIRO research conducted in 2008 found that the water quality in the lower reaches of the river was good and that planned activities were not an ecological threat. However, salinity and erosion are becoming an issue in the area, due to the rising of the water table in the area. The use of groundwater drains has been suggested by hydrologist Tony Smith, as
1927-469: The produce is exported to South East Asia. Sugar, which was produced from the late 1990s until the end of 2007 in the ORIA was trucked to Wyndham where it was exported to a Korean-owned food manufacturing plant in Surabaya , Indonesia . Fruit and vegetables are sold to domestic markets and are trucked to all capital cities. The ORIA is also home to the largest commercial Indian Sandalwood plantations in
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1974-734: The region to investigate its suitability for resettling Jewish refugees . Any resettlement scheme would have involved irrigation works on the Ord. By 1941 the Carlton Reach Research Station, also known as the Ord River Experimental Station, was set up by Kimberley Michael Durack for the Western Australia Department of Agriculture with funds, supposedly "siphoned off" from the Kalgoorlie pipeline and assistance from
2021-399: The vicinity of Carlton Reach. The Aboriginal people who lived in the Ord River basin were decimated through killing and the spread of introduced diseases. It would be another two years before the Commonwealth Government became involved, with the establishment of a joint CSIR and Western Australia Department of Agriculture facility. As the Carlton Reach, Ord River experimental station site
2068-602: The world. Lake Argyle Lake Argyle is Western Australia 's largest and Australia's second largest freshwater man-made reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is located near the East Kimberley town of Kununurra . The lake flooded large parts of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley on the Kimberley Plateau about 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from
2115-456: Was approved by the Commonwealth Government, late in 1959 and began in 1960 with the establishment of the town of Kununurra , which was gazetted a town on 10 February 1961. The construction of the Ord River Diversion Dam started in late 1960 and was officially opened in July 1963 by then Prime Minister , Robert Menzies . The Ord River Diversion Dam holds back Lake Kununurra , which gravity feeds
2162-560: Was built in stages during the 20th century. Australia's largest artificial lake by volume, Lake Argyle , was completed in 1972. The lower reaches of the river support an important wetland area known as the Ord River Floodplain , a protected area that contains numerous mangrove forests, lagoons, creeks, flats, and extensive floodplains. The traditional owners are the Miriwoong and Gajerrong peoples who have inhabited
2209-649: Was river alluvium (red soil) and most of the surveyed agricultural land was "Cununurra Clay" (blacksoil – Volcanic soil eroded from the Antrim Plateau Volcanics), it was moved to a new site further down river and the new Kimberley Research Station (KRS) was established in 1946. In 1951, the KRS Supervisory Committee (KRSSC) indicated that sugar and rice were two cash crops that could justify dam construction. By 1953, 150 varieties of rice were being tested. Over
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