Gairdner River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
| Gairdner River | |
|---|---|
 Gairdner River near West Mount Barren | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Needilup-Jacup |
| • elevation | 320 metres (1,050 ft)[1] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Gordon Inlet |
| Length | 130 kilometres (81 mi) |
| Basin size | 1,770 square kilometres (683 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 940,000 ML/a (30 m3/s; 1,050 cu ft/s)[2] |
The river was first recorded by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe in 1848, when carrying out exploration of the area, noting that natives referred to it and its numerous branches as "Jeer-A-Mung-Up". Roe later named the same river Gairdner River, at its mouth in Gordon Inlet, not realising they were the same, after Gordon Gairdner, Senior Clerk of the Australian and Eastern Departments in the Colonial Office, later Chief Clerk of the Colonial Office and Secretary and Registrar of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.[3][4] Roe also named Gordon Inlet and Mount Gordon after Gairdner.[5]
The river originates in farm land north of the South Coastal Highway between Needilup and Jacup on the Yilgarn plateau at about 320 metres (1,050 ft) above sea level. It flows in a south-easterly direction crossing the South Coast Highway east of Jerramungup then through the Fitzgerald River National Park until it terminates in Gordon Inlet, where it discharges an average of 9,400,000 cubic metres per annum.
The tributaries that flow into the river are Cobomup Creek, Needilup River, Pingamup River, Spring Creek, Wilgerup Creek, Scott Creek and Duleep Creek.
About 60% of the catchment has been cleared for sheep and grains farming and as a result the water quality has become saline. Salinity levels vary from 3‰ (3,000 ppm) after rains when the river is flowing to 50‰ (50,000 ppm) during the summer time.
References
edit- ^ "Bonzle Digital Atlas - Map of Gairdner River, WA". 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ^ "South Coast Rivercare - Gairdner River". 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ Roe, John Septimus (26 November 1849). "Report of an Expedition under the Surveyor-General, Mr. J[ohn] S[eptimus] Roe, to the South-Eastward of Perth, in Western Australia, between the months of September, 1848, and February, 1849, to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. XXII. London: 1–57. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Colonial Office, Downing Street, May 28, 1874" (pdf). The London Gazette (24099): 2820. 29 May 1874. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
- ^ "History of river names – G". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
34°15′51.45″S 119°24′12.74″E / 34.2642917°S 119.4035389°E