The main town centre in the Murray Basin is Cardwell which is located on the coast opposite Hinchinbrook Island and has a population of 1,176. There are several other localities including Kennedy, Bilyana and Carruchan, mainly located near the centre of the basin.

    The Murray Basin varies from steep rainforest-covered mountains in the west, to a low-relief floodplain mostly developed for agriculture in the centre, with further remnant forest near the coast.

    Major waterways include the Murray River, Dallachy Creek, Meunga Creek and Kennedy Creek, and numerous smaller coastal creeks drain into Hinchinbrook Channel. The sub-catchments discharge into several wetlands included in the Directory of (Nationally) Important Wetlands, and which include declared Queensland Fish Habitat Areas, seagrass meadows, and areas within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

    The Murray Basin has an area of 1,115 km2 and also has a high proportion of natural/minimal use lands (64%). The remaining area is comprised of 14% sugarcane, 10% forestry, 6% grazing, 1% bananas, 1% other crops, 1% urban and 4% other land uses.

    The Murray Basin grade has declined from ‘good’ in 2022-23 to ‘moderate’ in 2023-24 and the score decreased from 63 to 56.

    Key results

    • Water quality for the Mulgrave Basin remained ‘moderate’ and increased in score from 51 to 55 since the previous year.
    • Pesticide risk increased from high to very high and grade declined from ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’, mainly due to higher contribution from insecticides.
    • Sediment, consisting of the total suspended solids (TSS), declined from ‘very good’ to ‘good’ whilst dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) improved from ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’, since the previous year.
    • For the freshwater fish indicator, the Murray declined from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ with the score decreasing from 80 to 60. This was predominantly due to a decline in the number of native species caught compared to the expected number since the previous survey in 2019-20.

    The diagram below shows the detailed results for each indicator by year. Click on the timeslider to see data from previous years.

    Further Information

    For a detailed breakdown of the results and trends, visit the results dashboard or read the methods and results technical reports.