| Blackwood River | |
|---|---|
 Colour patch area at mouth of Blackwood river and start of eastern section of estuary | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Junction of Arthur River and Balgarup River |
| • elevation | 219 metres (719 ft) [1] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Hardy Inlet, Augusta |
• elevation | sea level |
| Length | 300 kilometres (186 mi) [2] |
| Basin size | 28,100 km2 (10,849 sq mi) [3] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 29.8 m3/s (1,050 cu ft/s) [4] |
The river begins at the junction of Arthur River and Balgarup River near Quelarup. It travels in a southwesterly direction through Bridgetown then through Nannup until it discharges into the Southern Ocean at Hardy Inlet near the town of Augusta.
Hardy Inlet has a number of islands – namely Molloy Island and Thomas Island. The mouth of the river has attracted interest in its various points of opening and closing over the last 100 years, Duke Head at the west side being a benchmark location for the shifting mouth.
The river has 42 tributaries including Dinninup Brook, Balingup Brook, St John Brook, Boyup Brook, Tweed River, Ti Tree Gully, Christmas Creek and Tanjannerup Creek. [1]
The river has a total catchment area of 28,100 square kilometres (10,849 sq mi) stretching from Kukerin in the east to Hardy Inlet in the west, [3] and from Darkan in the north to Augusta in the south. [5]
Several major towns are found within the catchment including Katanning, Narrogin, Bridgetown, Boyup Brook and Nannup.
The upper or larger catchment area of the river is in agricultural areas, while the middle catchment area passes through forest areas, and the lower portion of the river passes into mixed forest, agricultural, and residential lands. The middle catchment passes through what is known as the Blackwood Plateau between the Whicher Scarp and the Scott Coastal Plain.
The river emerges into Flinders Bay at Augusta. [3]
The majority of the basin, 78%, is devoted to agriculture, including cereal production and grazing. There are still many significant water resources including over 1,000 wetlands, as well as the river itself. [5]
The basin is a habitat for an estimated 8,000 species of flora including three threatened ecological communities.
The Towerrining Lake and Moodiarrup Swamp area is an important wetland area in the catchment. A total of 42 rare and priority vertebrate fauna species and 143 rare and priority flora species are found within the basin catchment area. [5]
Aboriginal Australians have lived along the Blackwood River for thousands of years. The Bibulman Noongar people called the river Gurbillup buerle, "burle" meaning "river", while the portion of the river at Bridgetown was called Gigellup buerle. [6]
In 1827, Captain James Stirling, RN, arrived at the river and named it after Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, under whom he served as a midshipman on HMS Warspite in 1808–1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. [7]
Historically, it was of considerable importance in the early days of the Swan River Colony, and more recently of importance in the ecology of the Augusta-Margaret River region due to conflicts in land use policy. The upper catchment contains Toolibin Lake, a nature reserve and Ramsar site.
The river is prone to occasional flooding. In 1945 it rose to the highest level recorded to that date, running 1.1 metres (3.6 ft) over the Russell Street bridge in Nannup. [8] The river flooded again in 1946 and 1947 closing roads but not causing any significant damage to towns along the river. [9] In 1949 Nannup received 174 millimetres (6.85 in) of rain in a period of seven hours, causing flooding. A bridge over the Blackwood connecting the town to Busselton was swept away. [10]
In 1982 after the remnants of a tropical cyclone passed through the southwest, the town and surrounding areas were inundated by heavy rains. The Blackwood rose 11.6 metres (38 ft), submerging over 50 houses in Nannup. [11]
The Swan River is a major river in the southwest of Western Australia. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city.
The Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia. It flows for about 820 km (510 mi) from the southern edge of the Robinson Ranges to the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri. The Murchison-Yalgar-Hope river system is the longest river system in Western Australia. It has a mean annual flow of 208 gigalitres, although in 2006, the peak year on record since 1967, flow was 1,806 gigalitres.
The South West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It has an area of 23,970 km2, and a population of about 170,000 people. Bunbury is the main city in the region.
Bridgetown is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately 270 kilometres (168 mi) south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the intersection of South Western Highway with Brockman Highway to Nannup and Augusta.
Boyup Brook is a town in the south-west of Western Australia, 269 kilometres (167 mi) south-southeast of Perth and 31 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of Bridgetown. The town lies on Kaniyang land within the Noongar nation.
South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about 406 kilometres (252 mi) long.
Nannup is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately 280 kilometres (174 mi) south of Perth on the Blackwood River at the crossroads of Vasse Highway and Brockman Highway; the highways link Nannup to most of the lower South West's regional centres. At the 2011 census, Nannup had a population of 587.
Moore River (Garban) is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
The Murray River is a river in the southwest of Western Australia. It played a significant part in the expansion of settlement in the area south of Perth after the arrival of British settlers at the Swan River Colony in 1829. It should not be confused with the Murray River in southeastern Australia, which is the longest river in the country.
The Shire of Boyup Brook is a local government area located in the South West region of Western Australia, about 270 kilometres (168 mi) southeast of Perth, the state capital. The Shire covers an area of 2,829 square kilometres (1,092 sq mi) and its seat of government is the town of Boyup Brook.
Blackwood Valley is a wine region in the south-west of Western Australia, approximately 260 km south-south-east of Perth.
The premise that there were cougars in Western Australia was widely believed during the 1970s.
Blackwood-Stirling was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia. It took parts of the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.
Wilson Inlet is a shallow, seasonally open estuary located on the coast of the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
The Lower South West Football League is a country Australian rules football league incorporating teams from towns located within the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.
The Preston River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.
Hardy Inlet is an inlet that is located in the South West region of Western Australia.
Scott River is a river in the south west of Western Australia, a tributary to the Blackwood River where it joins just east of Molloy Island. It is partly located within Scott National Park.
This is a list of newspapers published in, or for, the South West region of Western Australia.
The Donnybrook–Katanning railway was a railway line in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia, between Donnybrook and Katanning.
34°19′S115°11′E / 34.317°S 115.183°E
Rivers of Western Australia | |
|---|---|
| Rivers of the Gascoyne region | |
| Rivers of the Goldfields–Esperance region | |
| Rivers of the Great Southern region | |
| Rivers of the Kimberley region |
|
| Rivers of the Mid West region | |
| Rivers of the Peel and Perth regions | |
| Rivers of the Pilbara region | |
| Rivers of the South West region | |
| Rivers of the Wheatbelt region | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
