Gregory River (Australia)
{{Short description|River in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}}
{{distinguish|Gregory River, Queensland (Bundaberg Region)|Gregory River, Queensland (Whitsunday Region)}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Gregory
| name_native = {{native name|wny|Ngumarryina}}
| name_native_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology = In honour of Augustus Gregory
| image = Gregory River, North West Queensland.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Gregory River, North West Queensland
| map =
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| pushpin_map = Australia Queensland
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of Gregory River mouth in Queensland
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = Australia
| subdivision_type2 = Territory and State
| subdivision_name2 = Northern Territory, Queensland
| subdivision_type3 =
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| length = {{convert|321|km|mi|abbr=on}}
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| source1 = Barkly Tableland
| source1_location = Northern Territory
| source1_coordinates=
| source1_elevation = {{convert|263|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = Nicholson River
| mouth_location = southwest of {{QLDcity|Burketown}}, Queensland
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|-17.88463|139.29368|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|11|m|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system = Nicholson River catchment
| basin_size = {{convert|24179|km2|abbr=on}}
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The Gregory River (Waanyi: Ngumarryina) is a river in the Northern Territory and the state of Queensland, Australia. The river is the largest perennial river in arid and semi-arid Queensland,{{cite web|url=http://www.queensland.com/destination%20information/Gregory-Downs|title=Gregory Downs|access-date=4 June 2015|publisher=Queensland Government|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604203050/http://www.queensland.com/destination%20information/Gregory-Downs|archive-date=4 June 2015|df=dmy-all}} one of the few permanently flowing rivers in the northwest of Queensland.
Course and features
The headwaters of the river rise on the north-eastern section of the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory,{{cite web |author=Randal, M. A. |year=1967 |title=Groundwater in the Barkly Tableland, N.T. |url=http://www.ga.gov.au/corporate_data/167/Bull_091.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222083859/http://www.ga.gov.au/corporate_data/167/Bull_091.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2015 |access-date=3 June 2015 |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |df=dmy-all}} in an area of gently undulating downs country dominated by cattle stations. The river is fed by springs in shallow valleys{{cite web|url=http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/barkly-tableland|title=Barkly Tableland|access-date=4 June 2015|publisher=Queensland Places|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605003440/http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/barkly-tableland|archive-date=5 June 2015|df=dmy-all}} and it then flows eastwards through an area of well-developed canyons in Queensland. The river is joined by one of its major tributaries, the O'Shanassy River, a little downstream of Riversleigh.{{cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/nicholson/nicholson.shtml|title=Flood warning on the Nicholson River|access-date=4 June 2015|publisher=Bureau of Meteorology|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605001825/http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/brochures/nicholson/nicholson.shtml|archive-date=5 June 2015|df=dmy-all}} Another main tributary Lawn Hill Creek discharges into the Gregory further downstream of Gregory Downs. The Gregory discharges into the Nicholson River to the southwest of Burketown, having descended {{convert|252|m}} over its {{convert|321|km|adj=on}} course.{{cite web|url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=209359&cmd=sp|title=Map of Gregory River|access-date=2 June 2015|work=Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524064938/http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=209359&cmd=sp|archive-date=24 May 2018|df=dmy-all}}
The river has a catchment area of approximately {{convert|24179|km2|sqmi|0}} and is part of the {{convert|52234|km2|sqmi|0}} Nicholson River catchment.{{cite web|url=https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater/resources/04%2010%20Gregory%20River%20Report.pdf|title=Ecological Assessment of the Freshwater Wetlands in the Nicholson-Gregory Catchment, North-Western Queensland.|date=1 July 2005|access-date=2 June 2015|publisher=James Cook University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721181303/https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater/resources/04%2010%20Gregory%20River%20Report.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2015|df=dmy-all}} The area on the Barkly Tableland is made up of dissected limestone-dolomite slopes, canyons and plateaus.
The river has a mean annual flow of {{convert|694|GL|impgal USgal|sigfig=3}} with a minimum flow of {{convert|123|GL|impgal USgal|abbr=on}} recorded in 1984–85 and a maximum flow of {{convert|3701|GL|impgal USgal|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} recorded in 1973–74. A number of wetlands of national significance are found within the catchment. These include the {{convert|26639|ha|acre|0|adj=on}} Gregory River wetland and the {{convert|298888|ha|acre|0|adj=on}} Thorntonia Aggregation.
In March 2023, over 500 mm of rain fell across an already wet catchment in 48 hours, leading to record flooding. The Gregory River at Riversleigh, near Lawn Hill, reached a height of {{convert|18|m}}, surpassing the 1971 flood record of {{convert|10.8|m}} by a large margin.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/evacuations-amid-unprecedented-gulf-flooding/102074770|Retrieved 10 March 2023{{Cite news |last=Zara |first=Margolis |last2=Waterson |first2=Larissa |date=2023-03-09 |title=500mm deluge triggers emergency evacuations, unprecedented floods in outback Qld |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/evacuations-amid-unprecedented-gulf-flooding/102074770 |access-date=2025-01-13 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}
The river is surrounded by forested areas on the upper reaches, with riparian woodlands and open savannah on the plains. Grasslands are made up of Astrebla pectinate and Eulalia fulca that grow on the heavy grey pedocals. Fringing forest is made up of a mix of Corymbia papuana, Eucalyptus tectifica and Eucalyptus microtheca.{{cite web|url=http://www.asris.csiro.au/mapping/hyperdocs/REF_SITE/LS_4584_ZCL.pdf|title=Survey of the Barkly Region, Northern Territory and Queensland|author1=Christian, Noakes |display-authors=etal |year=1947|access-date=4 June 2015|publisher=CSIRO|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120535/http://www.asris.csiro.au/mapping/hyperdocs/REF_SITE/LS_4584_ZCL.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2015|df=dmy-all}}
History
The traditional owners of the river are the Waanyi Aboriginal people, who call the river Ngumarryina.{{cite book |last= Scambary|first= Benedict|date= 2013|title= My Country, Mine Country: Indigenous People, Mining and Development Contestation in Remote Australia|publisher= ANU E Press}}
In 1861, William Landsborough{{cite QHR|30560|Landsborough's Blazed Tree, Camp 69|602715|access-date=15 August 2015}} came across it during his 1861 expedition to find the lost Burke and Wills expedition.{{cite web|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/landsborough-william-3984|title=Landsborough, William (1825–1886)|author=Trundle, Gwen|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|year=1974|publisher=Australian National University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411110920/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/landsborough-william-3984|archive-date=11 April 2015|df=dmy-all}} Landsborough found the river while traveling from Burketown and followed it all the way to the Barkly Tableland. He named it the Gregory River in honour of Augustus Gregory, at the time the Queensland Surveyor General and an explorer.{{Cite QPN|14847|Gregory River|watercourse in the Burke Shire|access-date=13 January 2025}}
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Water|Environment|Queensland}}}}
- {{Section link|List of rivers of Australia|Northern Territory}}
- {{Section link|List of rivers of Australia|Queensland}}
References
{{commons category|Gregory River (Australia)}}
{{reflist}}
{{Rivers of the Northern Territory |state=collapsed}}
{{Rivers of Queensland|state=collapsed}}