Culgoa River

Culgoa
Location of Culgoa River mouth in New South Wales
Etymology	Aboriginal: "running through, returning"[1]
Location
Country	Australia
States	Queensland, New South Wales
Region	South West Queensland, Orana
Physical characteristics
Source	Balonne River
• location	near Dirranbandi
• elevation	187 m (614 ft)
Mouth	confluence with the Barwon River to form the Darling River
• location	north–west of Bourke
• coordinates	29°57′29″S 146°18′28″E / 29.95806°S 146.30778°E / -29.95806; 146.30778
• elevation	109 m (358 ft)
Length	489 km (304 mi)
Basin features
River system	Darling River catchment, Murray–Darling basin
Tributaries
• left	Balonne River, Birrie River
National parks	Culgoa Floodplain National Park Culgoa National Park
[2][3]

The Culgoa River is a river that is part of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin and is located in South West Queensland.

The river is a continuation of the western branch of the Balonne River in southern Queensland, near Dirranbandi, and flows generally south-west across parts of the Darling Riverine Plains, joined by ten tributaries, including the Balonne and Birrie rivers, before forming its confluence with the Darling River near Bourke; descending 78 metres (256 ft) over its 489-kilometre (304 mi) course.

Cubbie Station, located on the Culgoa River,^[4] is situated adjacent to a large diversion channel which permits the farm, under licence to store 460,000 megalitres (16,000×10^⁶ cu ft) of river water.^[5] According to downstream farmers in 2008, large cotton farms, such as Cubbie Station, have reduced the traditional flow of the Culgoa River by one third.^[6] By 2009, downstream farmers were claiming that due to upstream water entitlements on the Culgoa River, since 2000, the Lower Balonne floodplain had not received enough water to flood the plains. Prior to the granting of these rights, the Lower Balonne River flooded every two or three years; impacting the sustainability of flora, fauna, birdlife, and economic returns from grazing livestock and cropping.^[7]

Little Culgoa Creek, an anabranch of the Culgoa River, leaves the river near Goodooga and returns to the river near Brenda Gate.^[8] The river flows through the Culgoa Floodplain National Park and the Culgoa National Park, located respectively north and south of the border between Queensland and New South Wales, west of Goodooga.

Culgoa is an Aboriginal word meaning "running through" or "returning".^[1]

• HMAS Culgoa (K408)
• List of rivers of Australia § Queensland
• Rivers of New South Wales

• "Barwon, Darling and Far Western catchments" (map). Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales.
• "Lower Balonne River Floodplain System". Guide to the proposed Basin Plan: Technical background: Part II: Appendix B: Hydrologic indicator sites (PDF). Murray–Darling Basin Authority. pp. 499–520. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.