Irrigation
Together with a series of diversionary weirs and regulatory works downstream from the dam, Copeton is able to provide a reliable flow of water to 30,000 ha of land. This amount is much less than the 50,000 ha originally planned because of higher rates of absorption and evaporation along some of the irrigation channels. Despite these overestimates irrigated agriculture in the Gwydir Valley saw the area become Australia's major cotton producing region.
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