Todd River

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Todd River
Todd River in the Lake Eyre Basin

Todd River in the Lake Eyre Basin

Data
location Northern Territory , Australia
River system Warburton River
Drain over Hale River  → Finke River  → Macumba River  → Warburton River  → Lake Eyre
source Bond Springs ( MacDonnell Ranges )
23 ° 29 ′ 6 "  S , 133 ° 59 ′ 26"  E
Source height 731  m
Infiltration Hale River in the Simpson Desert Coordinates: 24 ° 27 ′ 10 "  S , 135 ° 30 ′ 55"  E 24 ° 27 ′ 10 "  S , 135 ° 30 ′ 55"  E
Mouth height 226  m
Height difference 505 m
Bottom slope approx. 1.5 ‰
length approx. 340 km
Catchment area 445 km²
Left tributaries Emily Creek, Williams Creek, Ross River , Giles Creek
Right tributaries Coyler Creek, Charles River , Jinker Creek
Medium-sized cities Alice Springs
Communities Bond Springs, Todd River, Todd River Downs
Dry riverbed of the Todd River, Alice Springs

Dry riverbed of the Todd River, Alice Springs

The Todd River is a river in southeast Australia's Northern Territory that has no water for most of the year.

geography

River course

The river has its source at Bond Springs in the MacDonnell Ranges north of Alice Springs and flows south from there, almost through the city center, past the telegraph station. He then leaves Alice Springs in the south through the Heavitree Gap and continues his way east on the south side of the MacDonnell Ranges. Northeast of the Todd River settlement , it turns to the southeast and flows along the Ferguson Range into the western Simpson Desert . If its water does not seep away beforehand, it flows into the Hale River , which continues its course south in very wet years and flows into the Finke River south of the border to South Australia , in Witjira National Park .

The Todd River is in a very dry area of ​​Australia and has no water at all for 95 percent of the year. If there is water in the river, it usually carries a lot of soil from the pastureland around Bond Springs , which gives it a chocolate-brown color and severe cloudiness.

Tributaries with mouth heights

Origin of name

The river was named after Charles Todd , the former Postmaster General of South Australia.

The Aboriginesstamm the Arrernte called the river Lhere Mparntwe (pronounced Ler-ra M-barn-twa).

Meaning for Alice Springs

Todd River at high tide on Wills Terrace Causeway in Alice Springs (March 31, 1988)

The Todd River is inextricably linked with Alice Springs: The Old Telegraph Station was built in 1871 at a waterhole in the river bed - a supposed source . A little later, the city of Alice Springs was laid out further south on the river bank.

A large part of the urban area lies in the floodplain that is created by the flood above the east-west barrier of the Heavitree Range , a mountain range of the MacDonnell Ranges. The river breaks through this mountain range in the Heavitree Gap , through which the Stuart Highway and the railway line to Adelaide also run. High water levels in the Todd River can cause road and rail links to be disrupted. The bottleneck effect of the bottleneck can also cause flooding in large parts of the city.

Heavy rains in the drainage basin north of Alice Springs cause the Todd River to flow into town six to eight hours later. It can swell from a completely dry bed to a raging river within 15 minutes - the tidal wave can be followed on its way through the city on a footpath.

Cult places and sacred trees of the Arrernte lie in the river bed.

Events

The Henley on Todd Regatta has been held annually in Alice Springs since 1962. The fun "regatta" is held in the dry river bed and attracts several thousand spectators. Bottomless boats are carried across the racetrack by the participants standing in them. The organizers have taken out insurance against water in the river bed. Once, in 1993, the Henley-on-Todd regatta was canceled - the river overflowed with water for the race.

There are also other events in the dry river bed, e.g. B. the closing event of the Alice Festival 2006. Camping in the river bed is prohibited, even if this law is rarely applied.

Water in the river is a spectacular event for the people of Alice Springs; they run to the driveways and the telegraph station and play in the floodwater. Although the river bed is wide and has only little incline in the urban area, playing in the murky water is quite dangerous because of the trees carried along and other dangers in the water and those caused by the people themselves.

Above Alice Springs, the Todd River bed is quite steep; it loses 100 m in height for 8 km between the Junction Waterhole and the telegraph station. The region is hilly and the river bed with rocks in it creates wild currents during the brief floods. Many residents are wary of the water because they remember the death of a man from Alice Springs in 1997. He drowned trying to ride down the river on an air mattress. Local kayakers recently appreciated these grade 2-3 rapids.

Web links

Commons : Todd River  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Map of Todd River (731 m - 264 m) Bonzle.com
  2. ↑ Map of Todd River (264 m - 226 m) Bonzle.com
  3. ^ A b Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 101
  4. ^ Todd River, A Rare Occurrence . Made
  5. ^ Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve. (PDF; 764 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. Archived from the original on April 26, 2013 ; accessed on October 7, 2012 (English). 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.parksandwildlife.nt.gov.au
  6. ↑ Henley-on-Todd Regatta - FAQ's . Archived from the original on July 18, 2008. 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. Retrieved July 23, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.henleyontodd.com.au