Regional profile
Riverina Local Land Services is bounded by Harden in the east, Hay in the west, Hillston in the north and Lockhart in the south. The area covers around 67,000 square kilometres (6.7 million hectares) of land and is serviced by 17 Local Governments with over 166,000 people. Wagga Wagga is the largest centre in the Riverina LLS region with a population of close to 60,000 people.
The Murrumbidgee River winds through the region and is the second largest river of the Murray-Darling system. The word Murrumbidgee means 'big water' in the Wiradjuri language.
There are six unique landscapes in the Riverina LLS region which are consistent with how communities relate to their landscape:
- Rangelands
- Irrigation Areas
- Riverina Plains
- Murrumbidgee
- South West Slopes
- South West Highlands
Land use in the Riverina LLS area is mainly agricultural with dry land grazing and cereal based cropping accounting for over 80% of land use. Irrigation farming in the region covers over 5% of the area.
Many natural assets of international and national importance are found in the area serviced by the Riverina LLS: The Ramsar listed site Fivebough and Tuckerbil wetlands found near Leeton and numerous national parks and reserves.
Communities in the Riverina region see agricultural production as important to the country's food security and work toward being resilient to climate variability and the changing economy.