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

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Water resource planning areas

Gulf water resource planning area

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Name: Gulf
Area type: Water resource planning area
Total area: 31,608,012 ha
% total Qld: 18.3%

Get more detailed information about Gulf water resource planning area

Page table of contents
Catchment stories
Wetland observations
Wetland extents
Wetland extent changes
Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC)
Drainage divisions
Drainage basins
Drainage sub-basins
Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies
Local government areas
100K map tiles
Climate zones
Bioregions
Biogeographic subregions
IBRA bioregions
IBRA subregions
Bioregional assessment areas
Marine meso-scale bioregions
Marine provincial bioregions
Regional plans
World Heritage areas
Ramsar internationally important wetlands
DIWA nationally important wetlands
National parks
Marine parks (Queensland)
Study areas
Report cards
Conservation parks
State forests
Forest reserves
Resources reserves
Timber reserves
Fish habitat areas
Coastal management district
Nature refuges
Freshwater biogeographic provinces
Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles
Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models
Healthy Land and Water conceptual models
Water resource planning areas
Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs
Point source monitoring
Wetland soil indicator case studies
Wetland management case studies
Wetland projects
Area specific conceptual model case studies
Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards
Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments
EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives
Shorebird zones
Biopassage structures
Related legislation/policies
Wildlife

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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

Gulf water resource planning area wetland area by system 2019
System Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 1,459,389 100.0% 4.6%
Total excluding riverine and artificial/highly modified riverine 755,520 51.8% 2.4%
Artificial and highly modified 14,281 1.0% 0.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 457,537 31.4% 1.4%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Lacustrine (natural) 3,207 0.2% 0.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 4,115 0.3% 0.0%
Palustrine (natural) 274,152 18.8% 0.9%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 2,232 0.2% 0.0%
Riverine 703,867 48.2% 2.2%

View wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

Gulf water resource planning area wetland area by habitat 2019
Habitat Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 734,055 100.0% 2.3%
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0.0% 0.0%
Mangroves - other 83,818 11.4% 0.3%
Salt marsh and salt flats 372,425 50.7% 1.2%
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 714 0.1% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 38 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 179 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 1,234 0.2% 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 12 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 1,007 0.1% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 38,478 5.2% 0.1%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 1,362 0.2% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 14,392 2.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 98,602 13.4% 0.3%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 4,175 0.6% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 8,829 1.2% 0.0%
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 36,751 5.0% 0.1%
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 28,951 3.9% 0.1%
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 9,191 1.3% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 33,360 4.5% 0.1%
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 391 0.1% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 145 0.0% 0.0%

View wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

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

Gulf water resource planning area 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 1,459,389 1,459,400 1,463,167 1,462,703 1,461,878 1,460,821 1,448,517 * 99.8%
Artificial and highly modified 14,281 14,214 13,722 13,185 12,254 11,007 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 457,537 457,541 457,544 457,544 457,544 457,544 457,621 100.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a
Lacustrine (natural) 3,207 3,207 3,206 3,206 3,206 3,206 3,575 89.7%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 4,115 4,115 4,117 4,106 4,167 4,167 0 n/a
Palustrine (natural) 274,152 274,158 274,354 274,380 274,401 274,531 276,528 99.1%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 2,232 2,231 2,210 2,200 2,198 2,185 0 n/a
Riverine 703,867 703,935 708,014 708,080 708,107 708,181 710,794 99.0%

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

metadata View 2019 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2017 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2013 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2009 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2005 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2001 wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View pre-clear wetland system extents for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2019/pre-clear wetland system extent percentages for all water resource planning areas

Gulf water resource planning area 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 734,055 732,830 733,009 733,025 733,043 733,171
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mangroves - other 83,818 83,818 83,818 83,818 83,818 83,818
Salt marsh and salt flats 372,425 372,429 372,432 372,432 372,432 372,432
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 714 714 714 714 714 714
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 38 38 38 38 38 38
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 179 179 179 179 179 179
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 1,234 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 12 12 12 12 12 12
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 1,007 1,007 1,007 1,007 1,007 1,007
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 38,478 38,478 38,478 38,481 38,484 38,484
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 1,362 1,362 1,362 1,362 1,362 1,362
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 14,392 14,393 14,393 14,393 14,393 14,431
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 98,602 98,607 98,610 98,614 98,620 98,688
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 4,175 4,175 4,175 4,175 4,175 4,175
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 8,829 8,829 8,829 8,829 8,829 8,843
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 36,751 36,752 36,752 36,753 36,759 36,760
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 28,951 28,951 28,954 28,954 28,954 28,958
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 9,191 9,191 9,298 9,307 9,308 9,312
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 33,360 33,359 33,423 33,422 33,422 33,422
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 391 391 391 391 391 391
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 145 145 145 145 146 146

metadata View 2019 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2017 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2013 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2009 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2005 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

metadata View 2001 wetland habitat area for all water resource planning areas

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

Gulf water resource planning area land use
ALUMC code and description
Area (ha)
% total area
Total 31,592,199 99.9%
2.1 Grazing native vegetation 28,081,955 88.8%
6.5 Marsh/wetland 1,494,053 4.7%
1.1 Nature conservation 1,181,698 3.7%
1.2 Managed resource protection 485,529 1.5%
6.1 Lake 144,833 0.5%
6.3 River 87,901 0.3%
1.3 Other minimal use 63,520 0.2%
5.8 Mining 11,807 0.0%
6.2 Reservoir/dam 10,637 0.0%
2.2 Production native forests 7,615 0.0%
5.4 Residential and farm infrastructure 6,584 0.0%
5.7 Transport and communication 4,553 0.0%
4.3 Irrigated cropping 4,129 0.0%
5.5 Services 2,865 0.0%
3.3 Cropping 2,705 0.0%
5.3 Manufacturing and industrial 741 0.0%
5.2 Intensive animal production 347 0.0%
3.6 Land in transition 308 0.0%
5.9 Waste treatment and disposal 214 0.0%
4.2 Grazing irrigated modified pastures 52 0.0%
5.6 Utilities 46 0.0%
4.4 Irrigated perennial horticulture 43 0.0%
3.1 Plantation forests 28 0.0%
4.5 Irrigated seasonal horticulture 25 0.0%
4.1 Irrigated plantation forests 7 0.0%
3.4 Perennial horticulture 3 0.0%
6.4 Channel/aqueduct < 1 0.0%

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Drainage divisions info metadata

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Drainage basins info metadata

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Drainage sub-basins info metadata

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Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies info metadata

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Local government areas info metadata

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100K map tiles info metadata

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Climate zones info metadata

  • map Desert
  • map Grassland
  • map Subtropical
  • map Tropical

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Bioregions info metadata

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Biogeographic subregions info metadata

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IBRA bioregions info metadata

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IBRA subregions info metadata

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Bioregional assessment areas info metadata

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Marine meso-scale bioregions metadata

  • map Karumba-Nassau (KAN)
  • map Wellesley (WLY)

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Marine provincial bioregions metadata

  • map Northern Shelf Province

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Regional plans info metadata

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World Heritage areas info metadata

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Ramsar internationally important wetlands info metadata

none

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DIWA nationally important wetlands info metadata

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National parks info metadata

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Marine parks (Queensland) info metadata

none

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Study areas metadata

none

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Report cards metadata

none

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Conservation parks info metadata

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State forests info metadata

none

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Forest reserves info metadata

none

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Resources reserves info metadata

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Timber reserves info metadata

  • map Royton Timber Reserve

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Fish habitat areas info metadata

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Coastal management district info metadata

  • map Available (all have been combined since February 2012)

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Nature refuges info metadata

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Freshwater biogeographic provinces info metadata

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Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles info metadata

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Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models info metadata

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Healthy Land and Water conceptual models info metadata

none

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Water resource planning areas info metadata

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Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs info metadata

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Point source monitoring info metadata

none

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Wetland soil indicator case studies info metadata

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Wetland management case studies info metadata

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Wetland projects info metadata

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Area specific conceptual model case studies info metadata

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Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards info metadata

none

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Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments info metadata

none

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EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives info metadata

none

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Shorebird zones info metadata

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Biopassage structures info metadata

Name Construction year Structure types Stream name
map Augustus Downs 2012 Culvert Leichhardt River
map Bynoe River 2010 Cone Bynoe River
map Charlston Dam 2019 Bypass Finnegan Creek
map Cloncurry Weir 2015 Rock Ramp Cloncurry River
map Doomadgee Road 2009 Rock Ramp Gregory River
map Escott 2009 Cone Nicholson River
map Gin Arm 2009 Rock Ramp Gin Arm Creek
map Glenore Weir 2016 Cone Norman River
map Little Bynoe 2014 Cone Little Bynoe River
map Magowra Creek 2011 Culvert Magowra Creek
map Pear Tree Creek 2011 Culvert Pear Tree Creek
map Wernadinga Road 2009 Cone Flinders River

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Wildlife

Kingdom
Class
 Native Introduced Wetland
indicator
species		 Rare or
threatened
species		 All
TOTAL 3,827 321 497 98 4,148
Animals 909 27 200 64 936
Mammals 112 17 4 13 129
Birds 415 8 94 34 423
Reptiles 237 1 19 16 238
Amphibians 42 1 16 0 43
Ray-finned fishes 57 0 56 0 57
Cartilaginous fishes 2 0 2 1 2
Insects 40 0 9 0 40
Malacostracans 4 0 0 0 4
Bacteria 3 0 0 0 3
Fungi 32 0 0 0 32
Plants 2,883 294 297 34 3,177

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-water-resource-planning-area

This page should be cited as:

Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2013) Gulf water resource planning area — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 14 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/water-resource-planning-area-gulf/

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