In the upper catchment of the Herbert Basin the main towns are Herberton (population 934) and Ravenshoe (population 1,442), which are located on the Atherton and Evelyn Tablelands.

    The largest town in the Herbert Basin is Ingham, located in the lower catchment, with a population of 4,767.

    The Herbert River starts 8km north-east of the town of Herberton and winds 340 km to its mouth 7km north of Halifax. Due to its diversity of landform and social communities, the basin is most easily divided into three sections.

    The upper basin consists of the vast north-western section upstream of the Herbert River Falls and forms the most southern extent of the Atherton and Evelyn Tablelands. This area is highly utilised for cropping, especially potatoes and hay. The area closer to Innot Hot Springs is undergoing an expansion of cane, and dairy is continually reducing. There are also extensive grazing areas in the western area of the upper catchment – and much of the area was subject to historic alluvial tin mining.

    The intermediate basin includes the Herbert River Gorge and consists mostly of National Parks, State Forests and other State Land, some within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

    The lower basin is the river delta or floodplain, and is characterised by alluvial soils and regular inundation from flooding. Many of the streams and tributaries discharge directly into Halifax Bay. The lower catchment is dominated by sugarcane and there is some irrigation in the southern-most area of the catchment.

    The Herbert Basin has an area of 9,842 km2 and consists of 27% natural/minimal use lands, 56% grazing, 8% sugarcane, 4% forestry and 4% other land uses.

    The Herbert Basin grade remained ‘good’ in 2022-23 and the score decreased from 71 to 68, since the previous year.

    Key results

    • The water quality grade for the Herbert Basin remained ‘good’ and the score decreased from 70 to 65 with pesticides declining from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) declining from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’.
    • For the habitat and hydrology index, the flow indicator remained ‘good’ whilst the score decreased substantially from the previous year.
    • The freshwater fish index remained ‘very good’ for 2022-23, although the indicator for native fish (species diversity) declined from ‘very good’ to ‘good’.

    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.