Liffey River (Tasmania)

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Liffey
Liffey Falls, Liffey, Tasmania.jpg
Liffey Falls in the upper river
Relief Map of Tasmania.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the Liffey River mouth in Tasmania
Etymology River Liffey, Ireland
Location
Country Australia
State Tasmania
Physical characteristics
Source Great Western Tiers
 • locationDry Bluff
 • elevation1,210 m (3,970 ft)
Mouth Meander River
 • location
near Carrick
 • coordinates
 41°30′S147°02′E / 41.500°S 147.033°E / -41.500; 147.033
 • elevation
134 m (440 ft)
Length52.6 km (32.7 mi)
Basin size224 km2 (86 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • location Carrick2004–2011 average flow [1]
 • average2.05 m3/s (72 cu ft/s)2004–2011 average flow [1]
 • minimum0 m3/s (0 cu ft/s) [1]
 • maximum171.6 m3/s (6,060 cu ft/s)13 Aug 2005 peak hourly flow [1]
Basin features
River system Tamar River system
Nature reserve Liffey Valley Reserve

The Liffey River is a river in Northern Tasmania, Australia.

Contents

Route and catchment area

It flows from Projection Bluff on the north side of Dry's Bluff in the Great Western Tiers to the Meander River near Carrick, [2] and is one of its main tributaries. The Liffey has a modern catchment area of 224 square kilometres (86 sq mi) which has been modified by human activity, specifically diversion for irrigation. [3] : 14  Flow is highly seasonal with the largest average monthly flows from July to September. [3] : 15, 24 

The flow, and effective catchment area, are affected by irrigation diversion. Excess flow from the Cressy-Longford irrigation scheme is diverted into the river increasing summer flow in the river's lower reaches. [3] : 25  This irrigation diversion originates at the Poatina Hydroelectric Power Station's tailrace and enters the river near Bracknell. Though the upper hills are known for their cool temperate rainforest, land along most of the river's length is used for agriculture. [4] Water quality in the lower reaches is affected by agricultural run-off and for a small length by discharge from a sewerage plant at Carrick. The plant, which also handles sewerage from nearby Hadspen, discharges treated waste-water into a tributary of the Liffey. [5]

The river was originally known as Tellerpangger by the aboriginal inhabitants of the area, the Panninher clan of the North Midlands Nation. Upon British occupation it was renamed Penny Royal Creek, after a plant that grew profusely on its banks, and the Panninher became known as the Pennyroyal Creek Tribe. [6] William Bryan, an early settler in Carrick, used his influence to rename the river during the early 19th century, after the River Liffey in his homeland Ireland. [7]

Bridges

The Liffey River—then called Pennyroyal Creek—was first bridged at Carrick in 1828 with a simple log structure. [8] This was replaced in the 1830s with a more substantial bridge, though still wooden. [9] Liffey bridge was repaired and raised in the mid-1860s, keeping the original foundations. In May 1875 water sufficiently eroded these foundations to lead to the bridge's collapse, when one of the two supporting piles (logs) gave way. [10] All of the Liffey bridges, and the connecting parts of the road, were subject to inundation when the river flooded; the 1929 Tasmanian Floods carried the bridge away. [11] In the 1950s the road was reconstructed and the bridge again replaced. To reduce the incidence and impact of flooding both were raised substantially leaving the nearby Carrick Mill's ground floor far below the road level. [12]

Flora and fauna

The upper river is surrounded by cool temperate rainforest. [13]

The Liffey is fished for brown trout (Salmo trutta) [14] during the August to April fishing season. [15] Trout were first introduced into the river in 1870, near the same time there were releases in the Meander River. [16] Trout were again released into the river by the fisheries commission in 1940, [17] and by 1949 specimens of up to 11 pounds (5 kg) had been caught in the river's upper reaches. [6] Apart from introduced brown trout the Liffey River is home to platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Platypus in the river have, in common with in other rivers nearby, been found with the potentially lethal fungal infection Mucor amphiborum. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's least populous state, with 569,825 residents as of December 2021. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40 percent of the population living in the Greater Hobart area. This makes it Australia's most decentralised state.

Councils of Tasmania are the 29 administrative districts of the Australian state of Tasmania. Local government areas (LGAs), more generally known as councils, are the tier of government responsible for the management of local duties such as road maintenance, town planning and waste management.

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Deloraine is a town on the Meander River, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It is 50 km west of Launceston and 52 km south of Devonport along the Bass Highway. It is part of the Meander Valley Council. Deloraine recorded a population of 3,035 in the 2021 census. Deloraine, like most Tasmanian towns, has a temperate and wet climate.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liffey, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Liffey is a rural locality and town in the local government areas of Meander Valley and Northern Midlands in the Launceston and Central regions of Tasmania. The locality is about 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of the town of Westbury. The 2016 census has a population of 155 for the state suburb of Liffey. It was named by Captain William Moriarty, from Ireland. The town is situated in rainforest, on the Liffey River at the foot of the Great Western Tiers. Nearby towns are Bracknell and Blackwood Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bracknell, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Bracknell is a rural locality and town in the local government areas of Meander Valley and Northern Midlands in the Launceston and Central regions of Tasmania. The locality is about 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-east of the town of Westbury. The 2016 census has a population of 459 for the state suburb of Bracknell.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrick, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Carrick is a small historic village 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, on the banks of the Liffey River. The Meander Valley Highway passes through the town's centre; this road was formerly the main road from Launceston to Deloraine and Devonport. Carrick has a well-preserved 19th-century heritage; fifteen of its colonial buildings are listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register including Carrick House (1840), St Andrew's Church (1848), the Old Watch house (1837), Monds Roller Mill (1846) and the Carrick Hotel (1833).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liffey Falls</span> Waterfall in Tasmania, Australia

The Liffey Falls, a series of four distinct tiered–cascade waterfalls on the Liffey River, is located in the Midlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The falls are a significant massacre site where 30-60 Aboriginal people were murdered in a reprisal killing for the killing of the stockman William Knight by Aboriginal people.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "LIFFEY RIVER AT CARRICK (Meander) - Station No. 164, hourly averages of stream flow". Department of Primary Industries and Water. Archived from the original on 2012-11-28.
  2. ↑ Whitworth, Robert (1877). Baillière's Tasmanian gazetteer and road quide : containing the most recent and accurate information as to every place in the colony. Hobart: F. F. Bailliere. p. 61.
  3. 1 2 3 Bobbi, Chris; Fuller, David; Oldmeadow, David (1996), South Esk Basin State of Rivers Report, Hobart: Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, ISSN   1448-1626
  4. ↑ "Waterways Monitoring report, Meander Catchment" (PDF). Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Ben Lomond Water Price and Service Plan 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2015, Attachment 4" (PDF). Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator. November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  6. 1 2 Peregrine (15 January 1949). "Variety in the Liffey". The Mercury. Hobart: Davies Brothers Ltd. p. 11.
  7. ↑ Scott, E. G (1985). Hagley. Launceston: Birchalls. p. 4. ISBN   0-949457-05-1.
  8. ↑ Greenhill, Virginia (2002). In the blink of an eye. Westbury: Westbury Historical Society. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "Entally Bridge—Tenders". Launceston Examiner. Launceston. 2 April 1842. p. 1.
  10. ↑ "Carrick". Launceston Examiner. Launceston. 18 May 1875. p. 2.
  11. ↑ "Magnificent State and Mainland Response to Flood Fund Appeal". The Examiner. Launceston. 10 April 1929. p. 7.
  12. ↑ Stevenson, Beryl (1995). Water under the bridge. Carrick: B. Stevenson. p. 20. ISBN   0-646-24162-1.
  13. ↑ "Tasmania's Cool Temperate Rainforest". Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  14. ↑ Weigall, Philip (October 2010). "On the trail of the trout". Jetstar Magazine. Ink Publishing. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10.
  15. ↑ "Open Dates and Times". Inland Fisheries Tasmania. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Evans, Kathryn; Terry, Ian (October 2004). Meander Valley Heritage Study, Stage 1: Thematic History. Meander Valley Council. p. 79.
  17. ↑ The Mercury, Brown Trout Liberated, Tuesday 9 April 1940, page 6
  18. ↑ Obendorf, David (27 September 2006). "The insidious invasion of Bioterror". Tasmanian Times. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
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