Geography
The Hunter Valley is one of the best routes to the interior of the state with access relatively unimpeded by mountains and other obstacles. It is the largest area of relatively low-lying land near the coast of New South Wales, and owing to the shielding by rugged ranges to its north, is much drier than any other coastal region of the state. Annual rainfall ranges from 1,100 mm (43 in) at Newcastle to only 640 mm (25 in) at Merriwa and Scone in the upper reaches. In the driest years rainfall can be as low as 600 mm (24 in) at Newcastle and 375 mm (15 in) in the upper valley.
Around the Barrington Tops on the northern side of the valley, however, annual precipitation can be as high as 2,000 mm (79 in), not all of which falls as rain since July temperatures are often below 0 °C (32 °F). In the lower areas, summer maxima are usually around 27 °C (81 °F) and winter maxima around 16 °C (61 °F).
Except for the driest parts of Tasmania and a small area of the Monaro between Cooma and Nimmitabel, the Hunter Valley is the southern limit of rich "black earths" (actually black cracking clays). These are the only soils in all of Australia with reasonable levels of soluble phosphorus, with the result that upstream from Singleton very rich pasture land with many Thoroughbred horse studs occurs. Around Merriwa and south of Singleton, the soils are very infertile sands more typical of Australia as a whole, and the dominant land use is extensive grazing.
Tributaries of the Hunter River include the Pages River, the Goulburn River, the Wollombi Brook, the Williams River and the Paterson River. The Hunter River is subject to substantial flooding, which Glenbawn Dam near Scone was constructed to ameliorate.
Towns along the Hunter River include Raymond Terrace, Morpeth, Maitland, Singleton, Jerrys Plains, Denman, Muswellbrook, Aberdeen, and Scone.
Parts of the Hunter Valley are important for grape growing and wine producing. The Hunter Valley is also one of Australia's most important coal mining areas. The Hunter River is threatened by drought, climate change and proposed loss of water due to coal mining. The region is also favoured by thoroughbred horse breeders and stud farms.
Read more about this topic: Hunter River (New South Wales)
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