GALARI BILA/LACHLAN RIVER
Running through the centre of Cowra’s township, the Galari Bila/Lachlan River is Australia’s fourth longest, at more than 1,300 kilometres long. It flows through Cowra and is one of three rivers important to the Wiradjuri people, the other two being the Macquarie and Murrumbidgee.
Its waterways are a source of water for native plants and animals, stock and domestic and agricultural use, tourism and recreational activities and cultural practices of local First Nations peoples.
The Galari Bila Walk starts under the Cowra Bridge, home to the impressive Indigenous Murals on the Bridge Pylons. Visitors can enjoy a gentle stroll along the Erambie Shared Path set next to the banks of the Lachlan River. Picnic tables and grassed areas provide the ideal space to relax, enjoy a picnic or throw a line in for a spot of fishing.
A leash-free dog park is nearby, offering a place for the furry members of the family to run about and enjoy the sunshine.
From the Murray-Darling Basin Authority:
The Lachlan River flows north and then west through New South Wales through a diverse landscape. The Great Cumbung Swamp captures the end-of-system flows from the Lachlan except in times of flood when the overflow reaches the Murrumbidgee River.
The eastern end of the catchment has elevations up to 1,400 metres and an annual average rainfall in these cooler regions ranges from 800–1,000 mm. The western end of the catchment is located on warm-hot semi-arid plains, at an elevation of around 200 m, and an annual average rainfall of 300 mm. Monthly rainfall is consistent across the year.
Groundwater in the catchment exists in alluvial deposits that extend along the Lachlan River from Cowra to Condobolin, as well as along tributaries of the Lachlan. The main resource of good quality (fresh) groundwater is in alluvial aquifers that spread across the western part of the catchment from Lake Cargelligo to beyond Hillston – an area of around 3,300 km². There is streamflow leakage into alluvial groundwater within the catchment, which is expected to increase with increased groundwater use in the upper catchment.
European settlement of the Lachlan River catchment began in the 1830s, with the establishment of pastoral landholdings, and cropping began in the 1860s with a focus on wheat production. The wheat industry gave rise to milling and transport infrastructure, and additional fodder and grain crops such as oats, rye, maize and barley were established. Market gardening and fruit orchards in the upper Lachlan took advantage of the transport connections to Sydney, and a canning plant was established at Cowra in the 1940s. Viticulture was identified as a potentially productive activity at the turn of the 20th century, and a wine industry was established by the 1920s.
