Griffith

Located in New South Wales, our GriffithHub is headquartered with Murrumbidgee Irrigation in the Riverina. The area has a strong research presence with both Charles Sturt University and the Australian National University having campuses in the hub region.

The Griffith Hub provides the opportunity for local communities, business, industries and governments to understand key vulnerabilities of the region in detail, offering information and knowledge to support the community to identify targeted solutions for effective adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

About the region

The region has a population of approximately 600,000, with Canberra located in the top of the Murrumbidgee catchment, and other major regional centres including Wagga Wagga, Cooma, Griffith, Leeton, Cowra, Parkes and Forbes. The traditional people of the region come from 10 different nations, with the largest being the Wiradjuri nation.

The region has a history of adapting to variation in water availability (such as the changes in the rice growing practices to increase  water use efficiency).

Future challenges for the region relate primarily to the impact of drought upon the ecological health of the river systems and associated riparian areas, industry (including agriculture) and the communities that they support.

The value of water to the region

The Snowy Mountains Scheme is located in the region, and diverts water from the Snowy, Eucumbene and upper Murrumbidgee Rivers to the Murray and mid-lower Murrumbidgee Rivers, increasing the amount of water available for agriculture. The scheme is also a significant source of renewable energy, and this will increase with Snowy 2.0.

Surface water and groundwater resources in the region directly provide for urban populations, stock, domestic supplies and irrigated industries. They support some 25 wetlands of national significance including the Lowbidgee wetlands, Tuckerbill swamp, Fivebough swamp and Cumbung swamp. 

Surface water, including Burrinjuck Dam and Blowering Dam, also has significant recreational and tourism value for the local communities and travellers.

Regional economy

The Griffith Hub encompasses regions of the third and fourth longest rivers in Australia and diverse landscapes, from the hills of the Great Dividing Range in the east, out to the plains in the west. This means land use varies dramatically across the region, from forestry and dryland grazing, to irrigated horticulture, and broad-acre cropping – primarily in the highly productive regions of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and the Coleambally Irrigation Districts. Alogether, the region has an economic output of $21.679 billion – an output that relies significantly on water resources.