1.1.5.3 Surface water flow


1.1.5.3.1 Condamine-Balonne river basin

The Condamine-Balonne river basin contributes about 8.5% of the total runoff and uses 3% of the surface water diverted for irrigation in the Murray–Darling Basin (CSIRO, 2008a). The mean annual rainfall for the Condamine-Balonne river basin is 514 mm, ranging from 1200 mm in the east to 400 mm in the west (NWC, 2013). Most of the rainfall occurs during the summer months of October to March and runoff is highest in summer and early autumn.

The long-term (1895 to 2006) mean annual modelled runoff over the entire Condamine-Balonne river basin is 19 mm (runoff ratio = 3.7%). However, the runoff for a recent ten-year period (1997 to 2006) was 23% lower than the long-term mean. Given the inter-annual variability, this difference is statistically insignificant (CSIRO, 2008a). Droughts and floods are common in the basin (NWC, 2013).

Forty-two stream gauging stations are still operational in the Condamine-Balonne river basin within the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion (Table 12). These stations are managed by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and have record lengths ranging from a few years to more than 90 years (on the Balonne River at St George). There are several others with more than 40 years of recorded data, including the Condamine River at Chinchilla (58 years) and the Balonne River at Weribone (44 years). The eastern half of the Condamine-Balonne river basin has more gauged catchments than the western half, which has no small- or medium-sized gauged catchments. This would have implications for rainfall-runoff modelling at smaller scales in the western half of the river basin. The Queensland Government provides summary statistics from streamflow gauging stations in the Condamine-Balonne river basin in Queensland Government (2013).

The impact of climate change by the South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative (SEACI) for Condamine-Balonne river basin indicated that 11 of 15 global climate models (GCMs) projected a decrease in future rainfall showing a median reduction of 13% and 21% in future runoff under 1 and 2 degree global warming, respectively (Post et al., 2012). See Section 1.1.2.3‘Climate’ for further details. An earlier modelling using climate change projections for 2030 conditions based on input from nine of 15 GCMs also indicated a decrease in future runoff in Condamine-Balonne river basin (CSIRO, 2008a).

Table 12 List of open stream gauging stations within the Condamine-Balonne river basin. Some of the stations are re-sited and have a longer record length than listed here


Site number

Station name and location

Record length

(y)

Start year

Catchment area

(km2)

Mean monthly flow (GL)

Mean annual flow (mm)

422201F

Balonne River at St. George

93

1920

75,370

10.5

1.7

422202B

Dogwood Creek at Gilweir

64

1949

3,010

6.8

27.2

422204A

Culgoa River at Whyenbah

48

1965

79,330

39.2

5.9

422205A

Balonne-minor River at Hastings

48

1965

79,330

57.8

8.7

422206A

Narran River at Dirranbandi Hebel Road

48

1965

80,110

19.8

3.0

422207A

Ballandool River at Hebel Bollon Road

48

1965

80,185

5.4

0.8

422208A

Culgoa River at Woolerbilla

48

1965

80,405

42.3

6.3

422209A

Bokhara River at Hebel

48

1965

80,030

5.6

0.8

422210A

Bungil Creek at Tabers

47

1966

710

1.8

29.9

422211A

Briarie Ck at Woolerbilla-Hebel Rd

46

1967

410

8.8

256.7

422213A

Balonne River at Weribone

45

1969

51,540

106.8

24.9

422219A

Yuleba Creek at Forestry Station

41

1972

1,475

2.7

21.9

422220A

Balonne River at Surat

9

2004

47,251

113.4

28.8

422306A

Swan Creek at Swanfels

94

1919

83

0.8

121.2

422308C

Condamine River at Chinchilla

58

1955

19,190

49.3

30.8

422310C

Condamine River at Warwick

53

1960

1,360

7.9

69.5

422313B

Emu Creek at Emu Vale

41

1972

148

1.5

123.1

422316A

Condamine River at Cecil Weir

66

1947

7,795

29.3

45.0

422317C

Glengallan Creek at Rocky Ridge

2

2011

474

5.4

135.6

422319B

Dalrymple Creek at Allora

45

1968

246

1.6

80.1

422321B

Spring Creek at Killarney

41

1972

35

0.8

282.5

422323A

Condamine River at Tummaville

52

1961

6,475

20.0

37.1

422325A

Condamine River at Cotswold

47

1966

28,930

63.7

26.4

422326A

Gowrie Creek at Cranley

44

1969

47

0.8

200.7

422332B

Gowrie Creek at Oakey

21

1992

142

1.5

129.0

422333A

Condamine Riv. at Loudouns Bridge

45

1969

12,380

29.6

28.7

422334A

Kings Creek at Aides Bridge

45

1969

516

2.1

48.0

422336A

Condamine River at Brigalow

41

1972

18,000

43.0

28.7

422338A

Canal Creek at Leyburn

42

1972

395

1.1

32.8

422341A

Condamine River at Brosnans Barn

37

1976

92

1.5

196.6

422343A

Charleys Creek at Chinchilla

11

2002

3,461

8.6

29.9

422344A

Condamine River at Bedarra

6

2007

24,344

109.3

53.9

422345A

North Condamine Riv. at Lone Pine

35

1978

710

1.7

27.9

422347B

North Condamine River at Pampas

26

1988

378

1.2

39.3

422350A

Oakey Creek at Fairview

33

1980

1,970

4.0

24.5

422352A

Hodgson Creek at Balgownie

26

1987

560

3.1

66.2

422355A

Condamine Riv. at Talgai Tailwater

24

1989

3,105

10.7

41.3

422359A

Oakey Creek at Jondaryan

2

2011

1,353

5.5

48.8

422394A

Condamine River at Elbow Valley

41

1972

325

3.3

120.9

422404A

Maranoa River at Cashmere

44

1969

19,490

14.3

8.8

422501A

Wallam Creek at Cardiff

14

1999

4,698

3.6

9.3

422502A

Nebine Creek at Roseleigh

6

2007

17,906

3.0

2.0

Source data: Queensland Government (2013)

1.1.5.3.2 Moonie river basin

The Moonie river basin has a summer-dominated rainfall with an annual mean of 528 mm ranging from 700 mm in the east to 450 mm in the west. The mean annual rainfall has remained relatively consistent over the last 100 years. The Moonie river basin contributes less than 1% of the total runoff in the Murray–Darling Basin. The long-term (1895 to 2006) modelled mean annual runoff is 17 mm and the mean annual runoff ratio is 3.2% (CSIRO, 2008b).

There are three stream gauging stations in the Moonie river basin, all on the Moonie River. Two of the gauging stations have more than 40 years of flow records (Table 13). The mean observed monthly flows downstream from Flinton (417205A), Nindigully (417201B) and Fenton (417204A) are 13.2, 11.8 and 14 GL respectively, indicating a loss of flow in the middle reaches.

Table 13 List of open stream gauging stations within the Moonie river basin. Some of the stations are re-sited and have a longer record length than listed here


Site number

Station name and location

Record length

(y)

Start year

Catchment area

(km2)

Mean monthly flow (GL)

Mean annual flow (mm)

417205A

Moonie river at Flinton

8

2006

5,378

13.245

29.6

417201B

Moonie River at Nindigully

45

1969

12,030

11.822

11.8

417204A

Moonie River at Fenton

42

1971

14,050

14.161

12.1

Source data: Queensland Government (2013)

The impact of climate change by the South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative (SEACI) for Moonie river basin indicated that 11 of 15 GCMs projected a decrease in future rainfall showing a median reduction of 12% and 20% in future runoff under 1 and 2 degree global warming, respectively (Post et al., 2012). See Section 1.1.2.3 ‘Climate’ for further details. An earlier modelling using climate change projections for 2030 conditions based on input from nine 15 GCMs also indicated a decrease in future runoff in the Moonie river basin (CSIRO, 2008b).

1.1.5.3.3 Border Rivers river basin

The subregion within Border Rivers river basin has a summer-dominated rainfall and ranges from 800 to 500 mm from east to west (see Section 1.1.2.3). The modelled mean annual runoff is 32 mm over the entire basin generating 4.7% of the total runoff of the Murray–Darling Basin (CSIRO, 2007).

There are 19 stream gauging stations in the Border Rivers river basin within the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion. They are managed by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Table 14). The lengths of flow records vary from a few years to 96 years (for Macintyre River at Goondiwindi). The mean annual runoff for Callandoon Creek at Carana Weir is noted to be unusually high (3863 mm), which might be due to either an error in the estimated catchment area or in the measurement of flow volume.

The impact of climate change by the South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative (SEACI) for whole of Border Rivers river basin (including areas that are outside the subregion) indicated that 11 of 15 GCMs projected a decrease in future runoff showing a median reduction of 14% and 25% under 1 and 2 degree global warming, respectively (Post et al., 2012). See Section 1.1.2.3‘Climate’ for further details. The CSIRO (2007) study also indicated the effect of projected climate change on future runoff in the whole of the Border Rivers river basin is a likely decrease of runoff of about 9% for 2030 climate based on a median estimate. Surface water – groundwater exchange under the median 2030 climate is projected to be unaffected.

Table 14 List of open stream gauging stations in the Border Rivers river basin within the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion. Some of the stations are re-sited and have a longer record length than listed here


Site number

Station name and location

Record length

(y)

Start year

Catchment area

(km2)

Mean monthly flow (GL)

Mean annual flow (mm)

416201A

Macintyre River at Goondiwindi

96

1917

23,090

80.1

41.6

416201B

Macintyre River at Goondiwindi Weir

17

1997

23,090

52.5

27.3

416202A

Weir River at Talwood

64

1949

12,070

13.1

13.1

416203A

Callandoon Creek at Carana Weir

18

1996

16

5.2

3863.3

416204A

Weir River at Gunn Bridge

14

1999

4,423

6.0

16.3

416205A

Weir River at Jericho

11

2002

12,348

18.7

18.2

416206A

Callandoon Creek at Oonavale

8

2005

115

5.7

593.1

416207A

Weir River at Mascot

7

2007

13,495

21.0

18.7

416305B

Brush Creek at Beebo

45

1968

335

0.7

25.1

416309B

Pike Creek at Glenlyon Dam T/W

40

1973

1,320

5.4

48.7

416310A

Dumaresq River at Farnbro

51

1962

1,310

6.9

62.8

416312A

Oaky Creek at Texas

45

1969

422

1.3

37.8

416315A

Pike Creek at Glenlyon Dam Headwater

37

1977

1,295

1.1

10.6

416317A

Broadwater Creek at Barkers

26

1987

108

0.4

45.0

416318A

Severn River at Ballandean

14

1999

621

2.3

43.7

416319A

Quart Pot Creek at Stanthorpe

8

2005

230

1.8

91.7

416320A

Accomodation Creek at Wallaces Dump

8

2006

240

1.5

74.7

416402C

Macintyre Brook at Inglewood

33

1981

3,430

7.9

27.6

416415A

Macintyre Brook at Booba Sands

27

1987

4,092

8.7

25.4

Source data: Queensland Government (2013)

Last updated:
5 January 2018
Thumbnail of the Maranoa-Baloone-Condamine subregion

Product Finalisation date

2014