Wilson's River

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Wilson's River
Wilsons River at the Boatharbour Reserve

Wilsons River at the Boatharbour Reserve

Data
location New South Wales , Australia
River system Richmond River
Drain over Richmond River  → Tasman Sea
source Jerusalem Mountain in Mount Jerusalem National Park
28 ° 31 ′ 2 ″  S , 153 ° 22 ′ 17 ″  E
Source height 362  m
muzzle Richmond River in Coraki Coordinates: 28 ° 58 ′ 59 "  S , 153 ° 17 ′ 20"  E 28 ° 58 ′ 59 "  S , 153 ° 17 ′ 20"  E
Mouth height 4  m
Height difference 358 m
Bottom slope 2.7 ‰
length 131 km
Drain MQ
 200 million m³ per daydep1
Left tributaries Possum Creek, Byron Creek, Lagoon Creek
Right tributaries Stony Creek, Coopers Creek, Leycester Creek
Medium-sized cities Lismore
Communities Wilsons Creek, Nashua, Eltham, Woodlawn College, South Lismore, Warallah, Coraki
Wilsons River in Lismore

Wilsons River in Lismore

The Wilsons River is a river in the extreme northeast of the Australian state of New South Wales . The river used to be called Wilson's Creek or counted as the northern arm of the Richmond River .

geography

The river has its source in the southern part of Mount Jerusalem National Park and initially flows south and southwest to Lismore . There it turns its course to the south and flows into the Richmond River at Coraki .

Tributaries with mouth heights

The Wilsons River has a number of important tributaries. Worth mentioning is Leycester Creek , which flows into the river at Lismore. Due to the confluence angle, the water is pressed against the most important bank reinforcement, which in the event of simultaneous flooding in Wilsons River and Leycester Creek can lead to severe flooding in Lismore.

The Coopers Creek flows into the Wilsons River near the Boxhill settlement in the Boatharbour Nature Reserve , a state nature reserve. There are still remnants of the Big Scrub rainforest. The Wilsons River estuary also extends there .

The source of Byron Creek is less than 2 kilometers from the coast of the Pacific. From there the stream flows inland and its water only reaches the ocean after 180 kilometers.

  • Opossum Creek - 41 m
  • Stony Creek - 30 m
  • Byron Creek - 24 m
  • Coopers Creek - 8 m
  • Lagoon Creek - 6 m
  • Leycester Creek - 5 m

history

The "Wilsons Creek" was named after William Wilson , the first settler in Lismore in the years 1844 and 1845. In 1976 it was renamed "Wilsons River".

It is believed that the indigenous people of the area used canoes and other boats to navigate the river and trade on its banks before the first European settlers appeared.

After their arrival, many cities and settlements emerged on the Wilsons River because of the simple and effective transport possibilities by water. B. Lismore, Wyrallah, Boxhill and Coraki. The Wilsons River was then considered the northern arm of the Richmond River. This was named and charted by Captain Henry John Rous in 1828 . The Wilsons River was the most navigable part of the river system upstream and provided access to the then most valuable resources of the area, the red cedar ( Toona ciliata ). These trees continued to be cut down and removed from the Big Scrub (tropical rainforest ) that once covered most of the region.

The goods that were regularly transported on the river in the beginning of the 20th century were z. B. ham, corn, eggs, butter, tallow, poultry and cut logs. The river ships in use at the time were z. B. the Cavamba , the Tomki , the City of Grafton and the Wyoming .

The last shipping company whose ships sailed the Richmond Rivers and Wilsons Rivers closed in 1960.

Environment and ecology

Because of the extraordinarily intensive development of agriculture and the settlements in the catchment area of ​​the river, this is heavily polluted with sediments, nutrients, coarse pollution and other inputs. Efforts have been made by Landcare groups and various government organizations such as the Northern River Catchment Management Authority and Rous Water to rehabilitate sections of the river.

New South Wales fisheries have records showing that the eastern freshwater cod ( Maccullochella ikei ) was once the predominant fish species. However, since this species has not been seen for many years, it is believed to be extinct. In the lower reaches of the Wilsons River, the declared ecologically harmful, introduced fish species carp has become common. In addition, there are a number of harmful aquatic plants such as alligator herb and Brazilian milfoil .

Floods

The Wilsons River floods regularly, and Lismore is occasionally flooded. As a result, many houses in Lismore have raised foundations called Hiset , and the town has extensive bank fortifications that protect them from common floods.

The frequent floods are due to various factors. One of these is the relatively high rainfall in the headwaters of the river, for example the measuring point in Rummery Park shows the highest rainfall in New South Wales. Another reason is the unusual geomorphology : The course of the river initially leads away from the sea, then returns to the sea from Lismore to the south and drains into the Tasman Sea via the Richmond River . The water has to travel around 180 kilometers from the source to the ocean, but parts of the catchment area are less than 2 kilometers from the coast. In addition, almost the entire catchment area is almost at sea level, which limits the gradient of the Wilsons River and ensures low flow velocities.

The floodplain is relatively large. Its main part begins at the confluence of Byron Creek and extends the entire course of the river to Coraki, where it merges into the floodplain of the Richmond River. Sometimes this flood plain is several kilometers wide and very fertile, albeit very loamy. However, the frequent floods limit its use as pasture.

Drinking water supply and irrigation

The Wilsons River serves as a source of drinking water for most of the Byron Shire Local Government Area . The water is diverted and treated at Lavertys Gap Weir . It serves z. B. as drinking water for the town of Mullumbimby .

Rous Water gets its water from a freshwater pool above Lismore in addition to that from the Rocky Creek Reservoir , which supplies the Byron Shire, Ballina Shire , Richmond Valley Council and Lismore City . The water is pumped to the Rocky Creek Reservoir treatment facility and then gravity flows into community water supplies.

The farmers of the region also use the Wilsons River to irrigate their agricultural land (mostly meadows), to water the cattle and for some domestic water supplies. The Coopers Creek tributary has been over-tapped in the past and the use of its water is therefore regulated in the New South Wales Government's Water Distribution Plan.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Map of Wilsons River, NSW . Bonzle.com
  2. ↑ Wilson's River . Geographical Names Board. ( Memento of May 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved September 26, 2008
  3. ^ Lismore City Council. ( Memento of July 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved September 26, 2008
  4. ^ Shipping - The Richmond River District . The Brisbane Courier, February 22, 1902. Retrieved May 23, 2011
  5. ↑ Summary Statistics for Whean Whean (Rummery Park). Climate Statistics for Australian Locations . Bureau of Meteorology. Australian Government. Retrieved May 23, 2011
  6. ^ New South Wales Laws . Retrieved May 21, 2011