23-783: The Wimmera River , an inland intermittent river of the Wimmera catchment, is located in the Grampians and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria . Rising in the Pyrenees , on the northern slopes of the Great Dividing Range , the Wimmera River flows generally north by west and drains into Lake Hindmarsh and Lake Albacutya , a series of ephemeral lakes that, whilst they do not directly empty into
46-692: A defined watercourse, form part of the Murray River catchment of the Murray-Darling basin . The Wimmera River rises in the Great Dividing Range below Elmhurst , between Ararat and Avoca , and flows generally north and west, through Glenorchy , Horsham , Dimboola and Jeparit , also forming the eastern boundary of the Little Desert National Park . It is joined by fourteen minor tributaries, including
69-688: A feature typical of desert drainage patterns in that it has distributaries , the Dunmunkle Creek and the Yarriambiack Creek , which divert water away from the Wimmera at times of high flow or flood. The health of the Wimmera River was expected to improve following the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline project that was completed in 2008. The project involved replacing old, inefficient stock-water supply and irrigation infrastructure, with
92-573: A maximum of 30 °C (86 °F) to a minimum of 14 °C (57 °F), whilst extremes can be as high as 46 °C (115 °F). In the winter, maximums are 15 °C (59 °F), but mornings can be cool, averaging at Horsham 4 °C (39 °F). Most of the soils are very infertile and many are sandy; however in a narrow belt between Nhill and Warracknabeal there are heavy grey Vertisols , that, although still deficient in phosphorus , are otherwise free of major nutrient deficiencies and are able to hold water very well. These grey soils are
115-468: A meaning that "a dog was always there"; Wadidirabul , with no defined meaning. In the Djabwurrung language the river has several names including Bar and Barkar , with bar meaning "river"; and Tarnorrer and Maripmunninnera , both with no defined meaning. In an undefined local Aboriginal language, the river is named Barrh , with no defined meaning. The colonial name of the river is derived from
138-440: A pipeline system. Prior to the project's completion, up to 90 percent of water extracted from the Wimmera River was lost through evaporation and seepage. The Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline system was expected to be many times more efficient and meant that there would be much less water extracted from the Wimmera River. That was anticipated to reduce the quantities of water taken from the river and cause an increase in environmental flows in
161-469: Is credited with naming the Grampians after a mountain range in his native Scotland, and naming the region as Wimmera, adapting a word from the local indigenous language meaning 'throwing stick'. The area contains a number of important towns, such as Horsham , Warracknabeal , Dimboola , Stawell and Nhill . Almost all of these are largely dependent on the grain and sheep industries, and landscape
184-407: Is heavily dominated by flour mills and grain storage silos . The smaller towns in the area are dying due to the declining value of primary products that dominate the region's economy . Similarly, modern farm technology allows individual farmers to stay viable by farming more land, but the decreasing population, and better transport, make smaller service centres less and less viable. The climate
207-525: Is semi-arid to sub-humid, with annual rainfall ranging generally from 380 millimetres (15 in) in the north to 580 millimetres (23 in) in the south. In the Grampians, annual precipitation can be as high as 1,150 millimetres (45 in) and snowfalls are not uncommon. Most rain falls in winter, though heavy summer falls can occur, the most famous of which was the thunderstorm that dumped 133.2 millimetres (5.24 in) on Nhill in mid-January 1974. Temperatures are hot in summer, ranging typically from
230-491: The Mackenzie River , before reaching its mouth at Lake Hindmarsh , near Jeparit. The river descends 220 metres (720 ft) over its 278-kilometre (173 mi) course . On the rare occasions that Lake Hindmarsh overflows, water flows via Outlet Creek to Lake Albacutya . In most years the flow of the river does not reach those terminal lakes, and the watercourse itself contracts into a series of pools. On average,
253-836: The Barbardinbalug were a Jardwadjali clan centred on the Wimmera River. In the Djadjawurrung language the river is named Culcatok , with no defined meaning. In the Djabwurrung , Jardwadjali, and Wergaia languages, the river is named Billiwhin , with no defined meaning. In the Wergaia language the river has several names including Wudjum-bial , with bial meaning red gum ; Barengi-djul , with bareng meaning "river" and djul meaning waterbags; Yaigir , with no defined meaning; Wudiyedi , with no defined meaning; Guri-beb , with beb meaning white gum ; Giridji-gal , with
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#1732765842958276-577: The Mallee. The Shire of Wimmera originally covered a large part of the Wimmera and southern Mallee, but retracted over time to cover only land near Horsham. It was later abolished, with most of being becoming part of the Rural City of Horsham . The federal government Division of Wimmera originally covered roughly the same area as the Division of Mallee does today, but ended its life covering only
299-413: The Wimmera area. At the 2011 census , the six local government areas (LGAs) that are thought to comprise the Wimmera had a combined population of 54,645. The area of these same six LGAs is 41,963 square kilometres (16,202 sq mi). The area was inhabited by its Indigenous residents (and continues to be) when it was surveyed by the first European to do so Thomas Mitchell in the mid-1830s, and he
322-522: The Wimmera as a 30,000-square-kilometre (12,000 sq mi) region for agricultural production purposes encompassing the Buloke , Hindmarsh , Horsham City , Northern Grampians , West Wimmera and Yarriambiack local government areas . The Victorian Government's Wimmera Catchment Management Authority serves the catchment of the Wimmera River , and that of the Yarriambiack Creek south of
345-701: The context of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia , the Wimmera is a sub-region of 2,145,380 hectares (5,301,300 acres) located within the Murray Darling Depression bioregion . The Wimmera is one of the nine districts in Victoria used for weather forecasting by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology . The Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries defines
368-571: The dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub , east of the South Australia border and north of the Great Dividing Range . Most of the Wimmera is very flat, with only the Grampians and Mount Arapiles rising above vast plains and the low plateaux that form the Great Divide in this part of Victoria. The Grampians are very rugged and tilted, with many sheer sandstone cliffs on their eastern sides, but gentle slopes on
391-615: The lake fills once in twenty years. The inflow of saline groundwater into the lower reaches of the river in recent years has severely affected its water quality, making the water more salty than sea water in several locations. The river is crossed by the Pyrenees Highway near its source, the Henty Highway south of Horsham, and the Western Highway west of Horsham and, again, west of Dimboola. The Wimmera has
414-620: The main water storage of the district, has been consistently at unusually low levels due to a succession of dry years. The Wimmera is renowned for its natural heritage. One of the key preservation areas is contained within the Grampians National Park , which possesses many unusual wildflowers and the greatest diversity of flora and fauna in Victoria west of the Snowy River . The Grampians also possess many important Aboriginal artifacts. A local Aboriginal name Gariwerd
437-419: The name of the pastoral run. Gold was discovered in the river in 1866. Wimmera The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria . It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social catchment of Horsham , its main settlement. The Wimmera district covers
460-483: The principal wheat soils of Victoria. Red-brown earths are also used for wheat but do not give as high yields and require more fertilisation. The Wimmera River flows from the Pyrenees Ranges, across the northern foothills of the Grampians then towards Lake Hindmarsh . Many streams in the region flow only after sustained heavy rainfall and are often dry for long spells. In recent years Rocklands Reservoir ,
483-722: The river system. The Wimmera River at Horsham has been subject to periodic flooding, with peaks recorded as follows: In the Aboriginal Djadjawurrung and Jardwadjali languages the river is named Walla-walla , with no defined meaning; and Wamara , possibly meaning woomera or "throwing stick". In the Jardwadjali language the river is named Bunnut , with the Bernett people a clan of the Jardwadjali people ; and Barbarton , with bar meaning "river" and
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#1732765842958506-638: The west. The Wimmera does not include the southern Mallee area in the north part of the Shire of Yarriambiack (around Hopetoun ). It does include the southern part of the Shire of Buloke , which is not part of the Victorian government's aforementioned subregion (around Wycheproof , Birchip , Donald and Charlton ). This latter area, plus the St Arnaud area, makes up the East Wimmera region. In
529-555: Was adopted by the National Park in 1991 in recognition of this fact; however, this change was soon reversed after a change of state government in 1992. The Little Desert National Park , south of Nhill and west of Dimboola, is a large wilderness area of sand dunes that were too infertile for productive farming even with superphosphate and trace elements. 37°27′S 142°27′E / 37.45°S 142.45°E / -37.45; 142.45 White gum White gum
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