Wimmera Southern Mallee (region)
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{infobox Australian place
|type = region
|name = Wimmera Southern Mallee Region
|image = Australia Victoria Wimmera Southern Mallee region.svg
| image2 = Mount Arapiles1.jpg
| caption2 = Mount Arapiles rises above the flat Wimmera plain.
|state = vic
|region = Grampians
|lga = {{plainlist|
- Shire of Hindmarsh
- Rural City of Horsham
- Shire of Northern Grampians
- Shire of West Wimmera
- Shire of Yarriambiack
}}
| pop = 54645
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2011}}
| pop_footnotes = Population figure is the combined population of all LGAs in the region
| area = 41963
| area_footnotes = Area figure is the combined population of all LGAs in the region
| stategov = {{plainlist|
| fedgov = Mallee
| near-n = Mallee
| near-ne = Loddon
| near-e = Goldfields
| near-se = Central Highlands
| near-s = Western District
| near-sw = Limestone Coast
| near-w = Limestone Coast
| near-nw = Murray Mallee
}}
The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion{{Cite web |last=Victoria |first=Regional Development |date=2018-05-17 |title=Grampians' Wimmera Southern Mallee Region |url=https://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/victorias-regions/grampians/wimmera-southern-mallee |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=Regional Development Victoria |language=en}} is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria.{{cite web |last1=Victoria |first1=Regional Development |title=Grampians' Wimmera Southern Mallee Region |url=https://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/victorias-regions/grampians/wimmera-southern-mallee |website=Regional Development Victoria |language=en |date=17 May 2018}} It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social catchment of Horsham, its main settlement.
The Wimmera district covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Australia border and north of the Great Dividing Range.
Most of the Wimmera is very flat, with only the Grampians and Mount Arapiles rising above vast plains and the low plateaux that form the Great Divide in this part of Victoria. The Grampians are very rugged and tilted, with many sheer sandstone cliffs on their eastern sides, but gentle slopes on the west.
The Wimmera does not include the southern Mallee area in the north part of the Shire of Yarriambiack (around Hopetoun). It does include the southern part of the Shire of Buloke, which is not part of the Victorian government's aforementioned subregion (around Wycheproof, Birchip, Donald and Charlton). This latter area, plus the St Arnaud area, makes up the East Wimmera region.{{Cite web |title=EWHS Homepage |url=https://ewhs.org.au/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=ewhs.org.au}}{{Cite web |title=East Wimmera – Diocese of Ballarat |url=https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/parish/east-wimmera/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=www.ballarat.catholic.org.au}}
In the context of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, the Wimmera is a sub-region of {{convert|2145380|ha|acre}} located within the Murray Darling Depression bioregion.{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/nrs/science/bioregion-framework/ibra/index.html |title=Australia's bioregions (IBRA) |work=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |year=2012 |access-date=13 January 2013}}
The Wimmera is one of the nine districts in Victoria used for weather forecasting by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.{{cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/map.shtml|title=Victorian Forecast Areas Map|work=Bureau of Meteorology|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|date=2014|access-date=15 August 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/wimmera.shtml|title=Wimmera District Forecast|work=Bureau of Meteorology|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|date=2014|access-date=15 August 2014}}
The Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries defines the Wimmera as a {{convert|30000|km2|adj=on}} region for agricultural production purposes encompassing the Buloke, Hindmarsh, Horsham City, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack local government areas.{{cite web|url=http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/agriculture-and-food/food-and-fibre-industries/region-overviews/wimmera|title=Wimmera: The Wimmera region|work=Department of Environment and Primary Industries|publisher=Government of Victoria|date=31 July 2014|access-date=15 August 2014}}
The Victorian Government's Wimmera Catchment Management Authority{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} Wimmera Regional Catchment Strategy |url=https://wimmera.rcs.vic.gov.au/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |language=en}} serves the catchment of the Wimmera River, and that of the Yarriambiack Creek south of the Mallee.
The Shire of Wimmera originally covered a large part of the Wimmera and southern Mallee, but retracted over time to cover only land near Horsham. It was later abolished, with most of being becoming part of the Rural City of Horsham.
The federal government Division of Wimmera originally covered roughly the same area as the Division of Mallee does today, but ended its life covering only the Wimmera area.
At the {{CensusAU|2011}}, the six local government areas (LGAs) that are thought to comprise the Wimmera had a combined population of {{formatnum:54645}}. The area of these same six LGAs is {{convert|41963|km2}}.
History
The area was inhabited by its Indigenous residents (and continues to be) when it was surveyed by the first European to do so Thomas Mitchell in the mid-1830s, and he is credited with naming the Grampians after a mountain range in his native Scotland,{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20140310100109/http://www.australianhistory.org/thomas-mitchell Australian History]}} Thomas Mitchell biography. Retrieved 10 March 2014 and naming the region as Wimmera, adapting a word from the local indigenous language meaning 'throwing stick'.[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/644888/Wimmera Wimmera article in online Britannica.]. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
Regional development and population
The area contains a number of important towns, such as Horsham, Warracknabeal, Dimboola, Stawell and Nhill. Almost all of these are largely dependent on the grain and sheep industries, and landscape is heavily dominated by flour mills and grain storage silos.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The smaller towns in the area are dying due to the declining value of primary products that dominate the region's economy.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} Similarly, modern farm technology allows individual farmers to stay viable by farming more land, but the decreasing population, and better transport, make smaller service centres less and less viable.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Wimmera district LGA populations |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" | Local government area
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Area ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Population ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Source(s) |
|---|
| scope="col" | km2
! scope="col" | sq mi |
| scope="row" | Shire of Buloke {{ref|1|1|1}}
| {{convert|8004|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:6384}} | {{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA21270|name=Buloke (S) (Local Government Area)|access-date=15 August 2014}} |
| scope="row" | Shire of Hindmarsh
| {{convert|7527|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:5798}} |
| scope="row" | Rural City of Horsham
| {{convert|4249|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:19279}} | {{Census 2011 AUS|id=LGA23190|name=Horsham (RC) (Local Government Area)|access-date=15 August 2014}} |
| scope="row" | Shire of Northern Grampians
| {{convert|5918|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:11845}} |
| scope="row" | Shire of West Wimmera
| {{convert|9107|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:4251}} |
| scope="row" | Shire of Yarriambiack
| {{convert|7158|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" | {{formatnum:7088}} |
| scope="row" align="right" | Totals
| {{convert|41963|km2|sqmi|disp=table}} | align="right" |{{formatnum:54645}} | style="background:darkgrey;" | |
:{{small|{{note|1|1}} The Shire of Buloke is included in both the Mallee and the Wimmera districts; hence the imprecise definition.}}
Climate
The climate is semi-arid to sub-humid, with annual rainfall ranging generally from {{convert|380|mm}} in the north to {{convert|580|mm}} in the south. In the Grampians, annual precipitation can be as high as {{convert|1150|mm}} and snowfalls are not uncommon. Most rain falls in winter, though heavy summer falls can occur, the most famous of which was the thunderstorm that dumped {{convert|133.2|mm}} on {{VICcity|Nhill}} in mid-January 1974.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
Temperatures are hot in summer, ranging typically from a maximum of {{convert|30|C|F}} to a minimum of {{convert|14|C|F}}, whilst extremes can be as high as {{convert|46|C|F}}. In the winter, maximums are {{convert|15|C|F}}, but mornings can be cool, averaging at Horsham {{convert|4|C|F}}.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
Geography
Most of the soils are very infertile and many are sandy; however in a narrow belt between Nhill and Warracknabeal there are heavy grey Vertisols, that, although still deficient in phosphorus, are otherwise free of major nutrient deficiencies and are able to hold water very well. These grey soils are the principal wheat soils of Victoria. Red-brown earths are also used for wheat but do not give as high yields and require more fertilisation.
The Wimmera River flows from the Pyrenees Ranges, across the northern foothills of the Grampians then towards Lake Hindmarsh. Many streams in the region flow only after sustained heavy rainfall and are often dry for long spells. In recent years Rocklands Reservoir, the main water storage of the district, has been consistently at unusually low levels due to a succession of dry years.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
Natural heritage
The Wimmera is renowned for its natural heritage.
One of the key preservation areas is contained within the Grampians National Park, which possesses many unusual wildflowers and the greatest diversity of flora and fauna in Victoria west of the Snowy River. The Grampians also possess many important Aboriginal artifacts. A local Aboriginal name Gariwerd was adopted by the National Park in 1991 in recognition of this fact; however, this change was soon reversed after a change of state government in 1992.
The Little Desert National Park, south of Nhill and west of Dimboola, is a large wilderness area of sand dunes that were too infertile for productive farming even with superphosphate and trace elements.
See also
{{Portal|Australia}}
Notes
{{Reflist|group=Note}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Wimmera}}
{{Victoria |state=autocollapse}}
{{coord|-37.45|142.45|display=title}}