Indigenous history At the time of
British colonisation of South Australia in the 1830s, and for tens of thousands of years before then, the area today known as the Riverland was inhabited by
Aboriginal Australian people, whose name for it is Moorundie Ruwe. At the time of colonisation, these were (from west to east) the
Ngaiawang,
Ngawait, and
Erawirung, sometimes collectively referred to as the Meru people. Based on available data, the pre-European population along the River Murray within South Australia is estimated to have been several thousand people, with a density of up to 0.3 to per person.
Ceremonial exchanges were major events, with people travelling from far and wide to participate. At this time, the people of the central River Murray area were "engaged in a broad-based economy embedded in a diverse and highly productive mosaic of riverine habitats". A study reporting the find and describing the dating as "based on 31
radiocarbon age determinations" was published on 14 July 2020, saying that this pushes back the previously known occupation of the area by 22,000 years, into the
last ice age. The research was carried out as part of an ongoing collaboration between the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) and researchers from
Flinders University led by Amy Roberts, and is a first step in a larger project tracking how people lived during that time. Evidence of trade in
chert and large sandstone
grinding dishes had already been found, but this find helps to show how their ancestors survived times of hardship and plenty.
European settlement The first district to be established in the region was
Renmark in 1887 by the
Chaffey Brothers, who also established the
Mildura Irrigation District in the neighbouring upstream region of
Sunraysia. Other settlements followed in the 1890s at: Holder,
Kingston,
Lyrup,
Moorook,
Murtoa, New Era, New
Renmark, Pyap, Ramco and
Waikerie. Some of these irrigation schemes were developed as a government response to the
economic depression of the 1890s, where the aim was to keep energy, talent and capital from leaving South Australia using
Village Settlement Schemes.
German and
Italian origin or descent. This camp was based at
Loveday but little remains today to indicate its existence. In 1956 and 1961 the privately developed
Sunlands/
Golden Heights schemes were established. As pumping technology became more affordable and efficient, more recent development occurred through private irrigation, where irrigators operated their own pumping infrastructure pumping water from the river. Water trade enabled further growth in these properties from the early 1990s, with the Riverland purchasing water from pasture users in upstream states, or from the downstream lower Murray region, to expand the
wine grape and
almond industries. Some of this development was funded through
managed investment schemes. ==Climate and economy==