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Queensland Government
WetlandInfo   —   Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

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Drainage divisions

Lake Eyre drainage division

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Overview

The Lake Eyre Basin Strategic Plan focuses on environment, culture, and community. It provides an important guide for the sustainable management and protection of the basin. The plan was built on the collective knowledge of people who live, work in, and care for the basin. This includes people with cultural and spiritual connections, scientists, experts, and governments. This was a result of the Second Review of the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement that recognises the need for a strategic plan.

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Catchment stories info

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Wetland observations

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Wetland extents info metadata

Based on wetland mapping version 6.0

Display areas in

Lake Eyre drainage division wetland area by system 2019
System Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 2,707,238 100.0% 5.3%
Total excluding riverine and artificial/highly modified riverine 2,051,202 75.8% 4.0%
Artificial and highly modified 7,949 0.3% 0.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Lacustrine (natural) 444,601 16.4% 0.9%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 3,239 0.1% 0.0%
Palustrine (natural) 1,594,054 58.9% 3.1%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 1,370 0.1% 0.0%
Riverine 656,025 24.2% 1.3%
Lake Eyre drainage division wetland area by habitat 2019
Habitat Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 2,035,013 100.0% 4.0%
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0.0% 0.0%
Mangroves - other 0 0.0% 0.0%
Salt marsh and salt flats 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 423,409 20.8% 0.8%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 20,097 1.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 64,092 3.1% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 42,931 2.1% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 1,306,649 64.2% 2.6%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 35,782 1.8% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 4,101 0.2% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 66,183 3.3% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 71,757 3.5% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 2 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 11 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 0 0.0% 0.0%

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Wetland extent changes

Lake Eyre drainage division wetland extent change by system
System 2019 area
(ha)
2017 area
(ha)
2013 area
(ha)
2009 area
(ha)
2005 area
(ha)
2001 area
(ha)
pre-clear area
(ha)
2019/pre-clear
percentage
Total 2,707,238 2,707,184 2,707,171 2,707,114 2,707,331 2,707,110 2,702,655 * 99.9%
Artificial and highly modified 7,949 7,887 7,694 7,611 7,329 6,788 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a
Lacustrine (natural) 444,601 444,601 444,601 444,611 444,612 444,612 444,997 99.9%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 3,239 3,239 3,233 3,222 3,215 3,212 0 n/a
Palustrine (natural) 1,594,054 1,594,054 1,594,036 1,594,046 1,594,139 1,594,227 1,596,295 99.9%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 1,370 1,370 1,370 1,370 1,370 1,328 0 n/a
Riverine 656,025 656,033 656,237 656,253 656,666 656,942 661,363 99.2%

* Total 2019/pre-clear percentage excludes artificial and highly modified

Lake Eyre drainage division wetland extent change by habitat
Habitat 2019 area
(ha)
2017 area
(ha)
2013 area
(ha)
2009 area
(ha)
2005 area
(ha)
2001 area
(ha)
Total 2,035,013 2,035,013 2,034,995 2,035,006 2,035,100 2,035,146
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mangroves - other 0 0 0 0 0 0
Salt marsh and salt flats 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 423,409 423,409 423,409 423,409 423,410 423,410
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 20,097 20,097 20,097 20,097 20,097 20,097
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 64,092 64,092 64,050 64,053 64,111 64,112
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 42,931 42,931 42,945 42,946 42,969 42,971
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 1,306,649 1,306,649 1,306,653 1,306,655 1,306,655 1,306,665
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 35,782 35,782 35,782 35,782 35,782 35,794
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 4,101 4,101 4,101 4,101 4,101 4,110
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 66,183 66,183 66,183 66,183 66,184 66,184
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 71,757 71,757 71,762 71,768 71,776 71,789
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 2 2 2 2 2 2
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 11 11 11 11 11 11
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 0 0 0 0 0 0

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC) metadata

Lake Eyre drainage division land use
ALUMC code and description
Area (ha)
% total area
Total 50,976,145 100.0%
2.1 Grazing native vegetation 44,639,866 87.5%
6.5 Marsh/wetland 2,641,695 5.2%
1.1 Nature conservation 2,143,556 4.2%
1.2 Managed resource protection 905,619 1.8%
6.1 Lake 540,647 1.1%
1.3 Other minimal use 45,424 0.1%
6.3 River 20,247 0.0%
6.2 Reservoir/dam 12,975 0.0%
5.7 Transport and communication 6,494 0.0%
5.8 Mining 6,291 0.0%
5.5 Services 4,990 0.0%
5.4 Residential and farm infrastructure 4,614 0.0%
5.2 Intensive animal production 1,528 0.0%
4.3 Irrigated cropping 753 0.0%
5.6 Utilities 530 0.0%
5.3 Manufacturing and industrial 304 0.0%
5.9 Waste treatment and disposal 238 0.0%
2.2 Production native forests 168 0.0%
4.2 Grazing irrigated modified pastures 123 0.0%
3.3 Cropping 65 0.0%
3.4 Perennial horticulture 12 0.0%
3.1 Plantation forests 2 0.0%
5.1 Intensive horticulture 2 0.0%
3.6 Land in transition 1 0.0%

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Wildlife

Kingdom
Class
Native Introduced Wetland
indicator
species
Rare or
threatened
species
All
TOTAL 3,583 278 317 108 3,861
Animals 841 26 133 54 867
Mammals 110 16 1 16 126
Birds 374 7 71 24 381
Reptiles 252 0 6 9 252
Amphibians 36 1 15 0 37
Ray-finned fishes 26 2 28 4 28
Insects 35 0 12 0 35
Malacostracans 3 0 0 0 3
Branchiopods 1 0 0 0 1
Arachnids 2 0 0 0 2
Snails 2 0 0 1 2
Bacteria 9 0 0 0 9
Fungi 96 0 0 0 96
Plants 2,637 252 184 54 2,889

Note: Wildlife statistics are based on information that has been submitted to the DETSI WildNet database and converted to a 10km² grid. The grid information has been intersected with the mapping polygons to determine the species lists. Click here to view the species grid metadata.

Information from WildNet can also be accessed via Wildlife Online and WetlandMaps.

Rare or threatened includes species listed as extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or conservation dependent under either the Nature Conservation Act or Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

Disclaimer: While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this product, the Queensland Government and Australian Government make no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and disclaim all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damage) and costs which might be incurred as a consequence of reliance on the product, or as a result of the product being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason.

AreaType-drainage-division

This page should be cited as:

Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2016) Lake Eyre drainage division — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 17 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/drainage-division-lake-eyre/

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