The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) is the product of a bold and imaginative plan to develop part of the nation's tropical north for intensive irrigated agriculture by harnessing the waters of the Ord River.

The main features and benefits of the Ord Scheme are:

Lake Argyle
A massive storage reservoir, Lake Argyle formed where the Ord River enters the Carr-Boyd Ranges just south of Kununurra. Lake Argyle is now the largest fresh water storage in mainland Australia. Its storage capacity is 10,760 million cubic metres of water or about 9 times the water volume of Sydney Harbour.

Ord Stage 1 - 14,000 ha of irrigated farm land
The Ord River Irrigation Area includes approximately 14,000 hectares of developed land, which has access to considerable water reosurces from Lake Argyle on the Ord River. This land is harvested to produce a diverse range of crops including: chickpeas, sorghum seed, melons, pumpkins, mangoes, bananas, citrus, irrigated pasture, tropical forests and sugar cane. Sugar production accounts for approximately on third, by area, of the cultivated land in the ORIA.

Ord Stage 2
The development of the Ord River Irrigation Area Stage 2 M2 Project will potentially encompass an area of land that covers approximately 78,000 hectares. The land is proposed for agricultural development and comprises of farmland, buffer, conservation and infrastructure corridors.

$53.6 million gross value
In 2004/05 the gross value of production from ORIA was estimated at $53.6 million. The highest value crops in 2004/05 were melons ($12.2 million), sugar ($16.1 million), mangoes ($1.9 million), hybrid seeds ($3.6 million), pumpkins ($3.6 million) and bananas ($0.5 million).

Lake Kununurra
A diversion dam, 50km downstream from Lake Argyle at Kununurra. Water is released from Lake Argyle into Lake Kununurra which then supplies irrigation channels needed by the farms nearby.

The generation of power
The generation of power from a 30 MW hydroelectric station constructed in 1995/96.

Kununurra township
The establishment of the Kununurra township and the development of ancillary community services.