Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a 1,579 km long right tributary of the Murray River in the Australian state of New South Wales . In the Aboriginal language it is also called Morumbidschi or Murrumbidschi ; the name means "great river".
geography
River course
The Murrumbidgee rises on the northeast slope of the Snowy Mountains , near Mount Kosciuszko , the highest mountain in Australia. It initially flows southeast through the Tantangara reservoir to about ten kilometers north of the city of Cooma . There it turns its course north to Canberra , the capital of Australia. From there it flows in a wide arc to the west through the wide pastures of the Murray-Darling-Basin. During floods, the arms of the Murrumbidgee River and the Murray River, which runs parallel to the south, meet there. Further west, the river takes on its largest tributary, the shallow Lachlan River , which flows through the Cullarin Range . Below Wagga Wagga it hardly receives any tributaries, but it feeds numerous irrigation channels so that its water flow decreases from 147 m³ / s to below 50 m³ / s just above the confluence with the Murray River at Boundary Bend .
During high tide, the Murrumbidgee River as far as Gundagai is navigable for small ships.
Major cities along the Murrumbidgee River include Wagga Wagga and Canberra .
Tributaries (with confluence)
- McPhersons Creek - 1329 m
- Dairymans Creek - 1287 m
- Tantangara Creek - 1257 m
- Nungar Creek - 1220 m
- Mosquito Creek - 1215 m
- Paytens Creek - 1170 m
- Farm Creek - 1149 m
- Duncan Creek - 1051 m
- Dog Plain Creek - 1033 m
- Boundary Creek - 1021 m
- Goorudee Rivulet - 967 m
- Long Corner Creek - 965 m
- Jones Creek - 952 m
- Back Creek - 913 m
- Bennett's Creek - 846 m
- Bulga Creek - 809 m
- Spring Creek - 772 m
- Slacks Creek - 770 m
- Bridle Creek - 770 m
- Pilot Creek - 736 m
- Numeralla River - 713 m
- Murrumbucca Creek - 708 m
- Long Flat Creek - 702 m
- Billillingra Creek - 700 meters
- Bredbo River - 695 m
- Spring Vale Creek - 693 m
- Snowy Creek - 679 m
- Michelago Creek - 667 m
- Colyers Creek - 661 m
- Ingalara Creek - 659 m
- Gundoandra Creek - 657 m
- Guises Creek - 596 m
- Reedy Creek - 595 m
- Gudgenby River - 573 m
- Cotter River - 466 m
- Uriarra Creek - 447 m
- Molonglo River - 446 m
- Ginninderra Creek - 430 m
- Tinkers Creek - 424 m
- Oaky Creek - 381 m
- Jeir Creek - 377 m
- Mullion Creek - 377 m
- Gooda Creek - 366 m
- Dam Creek - 365 m
- Copplestone Creek - 360 m
- Mountain Creek - 355 m
- Goodradigbee River - 345 m
- McPherson's Swamp Creek - 345 m
- Yass River - 344 m
- Mistake Creek - 295 m
- Jeremiah Creek - 292 m
- Jugiong Creek - 247 m
- Cooney's Creek - 239 m
- Tumut River - 222 m
- Muttama Creek - 221 m
- Adelong Creek - 212 m
- Oaky Creek - 207 m
- Billabong Creek - 203 m
- Hillas Creek - 198 m
- Sandy Creek - 195 m
- Wantiool Lagoon - 194 m
- Wantabadgery Lagoon - 194 m
- Tarcutta Creek - 189 m
- Kyeamba Creek - 185 m
- Houlaghans Creek - 174 m
- Beavers Creek - 171 m
- Old Man Creek - 157 m
- Sandy Creek - 157 m
- Bundidgerry Creek - 156 m
- Middle Creek - 154 m
- Oak Creek - 153 m
- Yanco Creek - 146 m
- Euroley Creek - 143 m
- Cudgel Creek - 142 m
- Coleambally Canal - 139 m
- Bareena Creek - 137 m
- Tumbullen Creek - 129 m
- Uri Creek - 125 m
- Cumbungi Creek - 122 m
- Bingagee Creek - 120 m
- Gum Creek - 102 m
- Fiddlers Creek - 88 m
- Coonoon Creek - 86 m
- Nimmie Creek - 83 m
- Caira Cutting - 79 m
- North Redbank Channel - 76 m
- North Redbank Channel - 71 m
- Lachlan River - 68 m
- Uara Creek - 65 m
Reservoirs and lakes (with altitude)
- Tantangara reservoir - 1231 m
- Lake Burrinjuck - 326 m
history
discovery
The Murrumbidgee River was known to European settlers even before they actually discovered it. In 1820, the explorer Charles Throsby informed the Governor of New South Wales that he was expecting "the discovery of a great saltwater river, which the Aborigines call 'Mur-rum-big-gee'". In his expedition report Throsby later wrote the footnote "This river or stream is called 'Yeal-am-bid-gie' by the natives". The river he had stumbled across was actually the Molonglo River . The Murrumbidgee River then reached Throsby in April 1821.
In 1823, Brigade Major John Ovens and Captain Mark Currie reached the upper reaches of the Murrumbidgee River while exploring the area south of Lake George . In 1829, Charles Sturt and his expedition rowed and sailed on the lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee River from Narrandera to its confluence with the Murray River and then down the Murray River to the sea. Then they rowed and sailed - if possible - back against the current. The Murrumbidgee River basin was opened for settlement in the 1830s and soon became an important growing area.
Floods
The river in Gundagai rose nine times over 7 m between 1852 and 2010. The floods have been lower since 1925, with the exception of the two in 1974 and December 2010 when the river rose to a level of 10.2 m in Gundagai. During the flooding in 1852, the river rose to a little more than 12.2 m, and in the following year to over 12.5 m. The construction of the Burrinjuck Dam in 1907 significantly reduced flooding. Nevertheless, there were major floods in 1925 and 1974.
The most famous flood was that of 1852, when the city of Gundagai and with it 89 inhabitants - a third of the population at the time - were washed away. The city was then rebuilt on higher ground.
Four people died in 1925 and the flood lasted eight days.
Curbing flooding has an impact on wildlife, birds and trees. The bird populations have decreased and the trees in the eucalyptus forests are losing their crowns over time.
See also
- List of rivers in the Australian Capital Territory
- List of rivers in New South Wales
- List of rivers in Australia
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Map of Murrumbidgee River . Bonzle.com
- ↑ a b River Basin Summary ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.7 MB)
- ^ Paul Frazier, Ken Page, Arthur Read: Effects of Flow Regulation in Flow Regime on the Murrumbidgee River, South Eastern Australia: an assessment using a daily estimation hydrological model , Australian Geographer, Vol. 36, Iss. 3, 2006, doi: 10.1080 / 00049180500325702
- ^ Tributaries of Murrumbidgee River . Bonzle.com
- ^ Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia . (1931). (ABS cat.no.1301.0)
- ^ AW Reed: Place Names of New South Wales. Their Origins and Meanings . Reed (1969)
- ^ Discovery of the Monaro . City of Cooma
- ^ Charles Sturt: Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia . (1833). Project Gutenberg EBook (2004)
- ↑ Evacuation begins . The Daily Advertiser (December 5, 2010)
- ↑ Cliff Butcher: Gundagai: A Track and Winding Back . A .C. Butcher. Gundagai NSW (2002). ISBN 0-9586200-0-8 . Pp. 84-98
- ↑ Historic Emergencies in NSW , Emergency NSW ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Website of the Australian Government Emergency Management (English) ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ ABC television transcript: Report Warns of Damage to Murrumbidgee River . ABC TV. Script of a 7:30 am news bulletin from 2001 (English) ( memento of the original from November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
