Mooki Hills Sub-catchment

Mooki Hills sub-catchment is located within the Liverpool Plains in an area stretching from Breeza to Gunnedah. It is a long narrow sub-catchment covering 280 km2 and is mainly comprised of hills and ridges with narrow areas of alluvial deposits with elevations ranging from 250m to 600m ASL. The township of Curlewis is found within this sub-catchment.

Landscapes within the Mooki Hills sub-catchment range from level to gently inclined foot slopes along the edge of the alluvial plain to undulating and rolling hills. There are some areas of ridges, sandstone plateaus and basaltic hills that are found throughout the landscape unit.

The sub-catchment is drained by a number of creeks and gullies including, Peach Tree Gully, Heads of Red Creek, and Watermark Gully.

The lower slopes and narrow floodplains are mainly used for both summer (sorghum, sunflowers and corn) and winter (wheat, barley and canola) crops. The alluvial foot slopes are also used for dryland cropping. The cleared undulating hills and slopes are used for light grazing with many areas pasture improved. The steeper slopes are used for light grazing with some areas within the State Forest used predominantly for timber production.

Vegetation types range from woodland and open-woodland comprising mainly of ironbark, box and cypress pine.

The issues within the sub-catchment include poor soil degradation, flooding, soil erosion, salinity management and gully erosion on the lower slopes.