Coxs River

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Coxs River
Coxs River at Mount Cookem

Coxs River at Mount Cookem

Data
location New South Wales , Australia
River system Hawkesbury River
Drain over Warragamba River  → Nepean River  → Hawkesbury River  → Tasman Sea
source Wolgan Gap
33 ° 17 ′ 50 ″  S , 150 ° 5 ′ 49 ″  E
Source height 1040  m
muzzle Lake Burragorang / Warragamba River Coordinates: 33 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  S , 150 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  E 33 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  S , 150 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  E
Mouth height 114  m
Height difference 926 m
Bottom slope 6 ‰
length 155 km
Left tributaries Middle River , Lett River , Blackheath Creek, Pulpit Hill Creek, Megalong Creek, Galong Creek, Breakfast Creek, Cedar Creek, Kedumba River
Right tributaries Lowther Creek, Ganbenang Creek, Long Swamp Creek, Little River , Jenolan River , Kanangra Creek, Kowmung River , Butchers Creek, Black Hollow Creek, Green Wattle Creek, Wollondilly River
Reservoirs flowed through Wallerawang Reservoir , Lake Lyell , Lake Burragorang
Small towns Angas Place, Lidsdale, Glenroy

The Coxs River is a river in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales . It flows through the Blue Mountains .

description

The Coxs River has its source at Wolgan Gap northwest of Lithgow and flows south into Kanangra Boyd National Park . There it turns its course to the east and flows into Lake Burragorang , a large reservoir that was created by the damming of the Warragamba River . This reservoir provides most of the drinking water for Sydney .

history

For the Aboriginal people who had lived in this area for thousands of years before the white settlers came, the Coxs River valley was one of two corridors they could use to cross the Blue Mountains. The other was the Bilpin Ridge , where today the Bells Line of Roads (road from Lithgow to Richmond runs). The valley of the Coxs River provided the easiest way to traverse the mountains, but the white settlers did not know this, and so the Blue Mountains were a seemingly insurmountable barrier to them.

A former inmate, Jon Wilson , was believed to be the first European to cross the Blue Mountains. Wilson arrived in Australia with the first fleet of convicts in 1788 and was released in 1792. He immediately went into the wilderness, lived with the Aborigines and even acted as an intermediary between them and the settlers. In 1797 he returned to Sydney and stated that he had explored a radius of 100 km around Sydney, including beyond the mountains. His observations and descriptions were generally very accurate, and it is possible that, led by the Aborigines, he crossed the Blue Mountains through the Coxs River valley.

On June 24, 1815, the name 'Coxs River' was first mentioned in the historical records of Australia. There they wrote:

The junction of these two streams a very handsome river, now called by the Governor "Cox's River" which takes its course (...) and empties itself into the River Nepean (...). (The confluence of the two streams forms a very attractive river, which the governor has now called “Cox's River”, runs through (...) and flows into the Nepean River (...))

The Nepean River then forms the Hawkesbury River and flows into the Pacific at Broken Bay . Governor Macquarie named both the Coxs River and the Coxs Pass after William Cox (1764-1837), British officer, road builder and builder.

pollution

Since 2008 there have been complaints about the water quality in the upper reaches of the Coxs River. Research by the Blue Mountains Conservation Society found that this part of the river had high concentrations of heavy metals (e.g. zinc, copper and manganese), as well as 125 times more sulfates than the surrounding streams, and an oxygen content of only 5% of that for the Fish of necessary value. The pH value was about 1000 times higher than that of the surrounding streams (ie the pH value deviated from the neutral value 7 about 1000 times further down - into the acidic range - than in the surrounding streams, the translator's note) and the river was about 80 times as salty as it should be. The Sydney Catchment Authority confirmed that the readings were correct, but indicated that the water quality in the lower reaches improved the closer it got to the confluence with Lake Burragorang. The Department of Environment and Climate Change announced that the pollution was probably caused by the Wallerawang Power Station , a Delta Electricity power station on the Wallerawang Reservoir , which had to use the river water several times due to the prevailing drought. Delta Electricity stated that it would comply with the terms of the operating license.

In 2009, Dr. Ian Wright from the University of Western Sydney found that the water that flowed into the Coxs River contained several times as much copper, boron and other metals as measured above the power station. High concentrations of arsenic were measured below the power station, but further downstream these substances were further diluted and were not believed to pose a threat to humans. The Blue Mountains Conservation Society , assisted by the Environment Defenders Office , sued the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales , alleging that Delta Electricity was polluting the Coxs River. The Society also wanted to review the environmental licensing practice in New South Wales. The Society's Chair, Tara Cameron , said:

These licenses are just licenses to pollute. They are just allowing the status quo and making people feel good without actually protecting the environment. (These licenses are just pollution permits. They just set the status quo and make people feel good without really doing anything to protect the environment.)

Journalists Ben Cubby and Erik Jensen showed that the government had known about the pollution for over two years.

free time activities

Access

  • Access to the river bank by car is possible at many points along the river. There are a number of positions at Hartley . Approach is no longer possible near Lake Burragorang.
  • Hiking is the most popular way to access the Coxs River. There are many hiking trails in good condition that follow particularly scenic river sections. One of the most famous is the Six Foot Trail
  • Horseback riding is another popular way to explore the Coxs River. In the Megalong Valley there are several providers of day and night tickets.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Map of Coxs River, NSW . Bonzle.com
  2. ↑ The Blue Mountains Rediscovered . Pp. 76-77
  3. ^ Historical Records of Australia . Series I. Vol VIII. P. 572
  4. ^ Cox, William (1764-1837) . Australian Dictionary of Biography (Online Edition)
  5. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald (December 2, 2008). P. 5
  6. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald (June 18, 2009). P. 1
  7. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald (June 19, 2009), p. 1
  8. ^ Neil Paton: Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks . Kangaroo Press. Sydney (2004). P. 240