Murrumbidgee River

Murrumbidgee River (/mʌrəmˈbɪdʒi/), a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It descends 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) as it flows 900 kilometres (559 mi) in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains towards its confluence with the Murray River near Boundary Bend.

The river is bordered by a narrow strip of land on each side, which are both managed as the ‘Murrumbidgee River Corridor’ (MRC). This land includes nature reserves, eight recreation reserves, a European heritage conservation zone and rural leases. The word Murrumbidgee means "big water" in the Wiradjuri language, one of the local Aboriginal languages. The river itself flows through several traditional Indigenous Australian lands, home to various Aboriginal tribes.

Flow

The reaches of the Murrumbidgee in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are now affected by the complete elimination of large spring snow melt flows and a reduction of average annual flows of almost 50%, due to Tantangara Dam. Tantangara Dam was completed in 1960 on the headwaters of Murrumbidgee River and diverts approximately 99% of the river's flow at that point into Lake Eucumbene. This had extremely serious effects on native fish populations and other native aquatic life and has led to serious habitat loss. It is said that the Murrumbidgee River through the ACT is only half the river it used to be.