Ultima is a town in the Rural City of Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia. The town is located north-west of the state capital, Melbourne, and south-west of Swan Hill. At the 2021 census, Ultima had a population of 173, down from 333 in 2011.
Locality The town of Ultima is bounded to the north by Waitchie Road which joins the Sea Lake-Swan Hill Road near the 14 Mile Bushland Reserve to the east. The eastern border extends south along Ceveri Road, west along Lake Boga-Ulitma Road, south again along Dog Netting Fence Road to join the southern boundary at Stumpy Lane and crossing the South Meatian Channel. At the junction of Stumpy Lane and Grey Road, the eastern boundary extends southwards again, crossing Rees Channel. The southernmost boundary extends westwards from the intersection of Grey Road with Meatian West Road, across Murnungin Channel at two points. Meatian West Road and Hancock Road junction makes the south-western corner of Ultima. Hancock Road heading north crosses Culgoa-Ultima Road to become Ford Road which meets Burns Road, and that extends a boundary westward, across another branch of Murnungin Channel to Loader Road, which forms the northern end of the western boundary to Waitchie Road.
Geology See main article Murray Basin
Ultima is situated in the Murray Basin, formed after Australia separated from Antarctica. The oldest rocks identified in the region are Cambrian-era ocean floor basalts distributed along major faults, particularly the Governor (aligned with the Murray River), Log Landing, and Griminal faults. The southern and western areas are covered by the Cambrian St Arnaud Group and the Ordovician Castlemaine Group, formations which were likely deformed during the Benambran Orogeny, followed by a significant period of granite intrusion. The Lalbert Batholith, south of Ultima exhibits an unusual magnetic pattern which may have resulted from dextral strain on the granites while they were still in a plastic state; an event that is one of the few Bindian occurrences recorded in western Victoria.
The Kanimblan Orogeny appears to have only impacted the southern part of the Governor Fault system, as well as the Lake Charm and associated faults. Limited direct evidence of further sedimentation appears in the Swan Hill region until the Cainozoic era, though Permian sediments from the Numurkah Trough centred 200 km east along the Murray, might be present, particularly in the eastern area. Around 120 basaltic plugs were intruded, but the surface deposits associated with these were likely eroded, contributing to the detritus of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Otway Group.
In more recent times, from the Eocene to the present, the riverine plains of the Murray Basin have been extensively covered by sediments. These sediments can be classified into four sequences. The oldest is the Eocene to Oligocene Olney Formation of the Renmark Group, which is predominantly fluvial and contains abundant plant material. It is overlaid by the Mologa Surface, which might record a period of monsoonal weather patterns. Above this is the Oligocene to Miocene Murray Group, which includes the fluvial Calivil Formation and the marginal marine Geera Clay. Further up are the Late Miocene to Pliocene Bookpurnong beds, Parilla Sand, and Shepparton Formation time equivalents, representing offshore marginal marine and onshore facies. All of these formations are below the Karoonda Surface. The present cycle consists of fluvial (Coonambidgal Formation), lacustrine (Blanchetown Clay and unnamed lunettes), and windblown sand (Woorinen Formation, Lowan Sand). The region also contains both sheet and strand line style heavy mineral deposits, with one strand line deposit having been mined at Wemen, 110 km to the north of Ultima Traces of uranium are known in the Lake Boga Granite, and there might be additional occurrences around Lake Tyrrell.Moore, D.H., 2005. Swan Hill 1:250 000 and parts of Balranald and Deniliquin 1:250 000 map areas: a geological interpretation of the geophysical data. Victorian Initiative for Minerals and Petroleum Report 84. Department of Primary Industries.
Ecology In June 1836, explorer Thomas Mitchell, travelled south-east along the Murray River and passed 35 km from what was to be Ultima. He noted that:Every day we passed over land which for natural fertility and beauty could scarcely be surpassed; over streams of unfailing abundance and plains covered with the richest pasturage. Stately trees and majestic mountains adorned the ever-varying scenery of this region, the most southern of all Australia and the best.
By 1882 rabbit plagues were common in the district, with the Bendigo Advertiser reporting that: As the Mallee at present exists the rabbits are fast compelling the licensees of Crown lands to abandon their holdings, the rabbits having increased month after month, depriving the sheep of food, and creating such terrible devastation that it will take may years before the country can recover its former condition. I have frequently noticed, when feed is scarce, sheep eating the dung of the rabbits, "Money Miller " of Euston had 140,000 sheep three years ago, and now his station will only carry 40,000. At Ultima they had 15.000, and now 2,000...The development of irrigation in the Australian colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria began in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1904, despite challenges like lack of capital and expertise, a stock water supply to Ultima was established from Long Lake near Lake Boga, and later from Lake Lonsdale storage through a gravitation channel. Irrigation efforts were centralised under powerful public agencies in 1906. Those agencies, including the Victorian State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, undertook significant engineering works to canalise the Murray River and control its flow for irrigation.
Over the years, various reservoirs, dams, and weirs were constructed, transforming the Murray River into an engineered system. However, the increased water supply for irrigation led to significant water losses through evaporation, leakage, and excessive application by farmers, resulting in salinity. By the 1930s, the irrigation districts of Northern Victoria had experienced a permanent rise in the water table.
Despite improvements, salinity remained a problem, causing productivity losses and economic hardships for farmers in areas like Ultima, Kerang, Cohuna, and Swan Hill. The lack of adequate drainage aggravated the situation, with some regions having extensive drainage systems while others faced rapid salinity.
From 1945 to 1994, Australia's Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District, incorporating Ultima, faced increasing soil salinity as a result of unsustainable irrigation practices. It became a major environmental threat, causing conflicts among rural communities. The urgency to address salinity grew in the 1970s after floods hit northern Victoria, raising water tables and exacerbating the problem. The pursuit of "environmental security" through irrigation development was hindered by its own effects, leading to environmental insecurity in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District (GMID). The conflicts over salinity escalated during that period, shaping the future of the GMID with ongoing environmental challenges.
Efforts by concerned individuals and government strategies brought some success, but it was the Millennium Drought (1996-2010) that ultimately provided relief from salinisation.
Yellow leaf spot (YLS) is a wheat disease caused by the fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drech., with its conidial state known as Drechslera tritici-repentis (Died.) Shoem. The first appearance of YLS in Victoria was in 1983, specifically in Ultima, 33 years after it was first observed by Valder and Shaw in New South Wales and Queensland in 1952. For Western Australia and South Australia, the first recorded instances of YLS were in 1970, as reported by Khan et al. in 1971.
Nature reserves A small permanent freshwater lake, continuously occupied by large numbers of blue-billed ducks, is located on the western side of the Lake Boga township, along Ultima-Lake Boga Rd, 18 km from Ultima. In the small 3 hectare 14-Mile Bushland reserve, situated 9.3 km north-east of Ultima, honeyeaters, crimson chats, cockatiels, budgerigars, bluebonnets, pied butcherbirds, yellow-throated miners, striated pardalotes and chestnut-rumped thornbills may be seen amongst its Mallee scrub. In October 2003, winged peppercress, a nationally endangered plant species, was found in the Stony Plain Bushland Reserve, 21 km west of Ultima.Department of Sustainability and Environment Action Statement : Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 No. 252 (Revised in 2009) : Winged Peppercress
Climate The Australian Bureau of Meteorology provides climate data for Swan Hill Aerodrome, 30 km NE of Ultima. StatisticsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnualYearsTemperatureMean maximum temperature (°C)33.332.228.623.818.715.314.816.720.324.328.030.723.9271996 2023Mean minimum temperature (°C)16.315.913.09.36.44.43.64.05.88.111.713.89.4271996 2023RainfallMean rainfall (mm) 25.618.416.624.325.526.125.727.428.727.841.221.3307.8261996 2023Decile 5 (median) rainfall (mm) 14.816.813.615.020.620.324.819.622.819.826.812.8294.0271996 2023Mean number of days of rain ≥ 1 mm 3.21.82.12.74.14.75.45.45.03.94.43.145.8261996 2023Other daily elementsMean daily sunshine (hours) Mean number of clear days 4.93.14.73.82.62.12.62.92.12.53.24.138.6141996 2010Mean number of cloudy days 2.21.21.82.42.32.92.62.42.11.92.42.326.5141996 20109 am conditionsMean 9 am temperature (°C) 21.320.417.015.010.87.67.18.912.615.618.219.614.5141996 2010Mean 9 am relative humidity (%) 50556163788785786654534965141996 2010Mean 9 am wind speed (km/h) 18.617.214.914.912.913.113.316.018.219.417.918.916.3141996 2010
History
Archeological remains are evidence of occupation over millennia by the Barapa Barapa, or Barababaraba (also spelt Barapabarapa) people who are the original custodians of the land which they share with traditional neighbours, the Wemba Wemba and Yorta Yorta. Their neighbours to the west around Lake Tyrrell are Wergaia or Werrigia people and the Dja Dja Wurrung occupy the south.