Barron Basin

The Barron Basin has an area of 2189 km² with Mareeba and Atherton as the main population centres.

The basin consists of 29% natural/minimal use lands, 31% grazing, 18% forestry, 8% other crops (including bananas), 3% sugarcane, 3% dairy, 5% urban and 4% other land uses.

The Barron River is the most modified river in the Wet Tropics region and is heavily regulated by water supply infrastructure.

The basin has a large upper catchment on the Tablelands and a smaller lower catchment north of Cairns where it discharges into Trinity Bay.

A major dam is situated at Tinaroo Falls at the northern end of Lake Tinaroo. The Barron River is a strong story place for Aboriginal custodians.

Key results for 2024-25

The Barron Basin grade has remained ‘moderate’ in 2024-25 with the score increasing 55 to 57.

• Water quality remained ‘good’ and the score was also unchanged at 64.
• The habitat and hydrology index improved from ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ due to an increase in score for the flow indicator.
• Wetland extent grade remained ‘very poor’ but there was no further recorded loss of wetland habitat since 2019.
• The flow indicator improved from ‘moderate’ to ‘good’ due to the return of a more typical rainfall pattern for the region including the timing of the wet season rainfall and flow events. Poorer scores in the previous year (2023-34) were due to Tropical Cyclone Jasper and the early onset of the wet season.

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