Roper River

Formed by the confluence of the Waterhouse River and Roper Creek, the Roper River rises east of Mataranka in the Elsey National Park and flows generally east for over {{cvt|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} to meet the sea in Limmen Bight on the Gulf of Carpentaria. The river is joined by fifteen tributaries, including the Chambers, Strangways, Jalboi, Hodgson and the Wilton Rivers. The river descends {{cvt|126|m}} over its {{cvt|400|km|mi|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Roper-River|title=Roper River}} course and has a catchment area of {{cvt|81,794|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, which is one of the largest river catchment areas in the Northern Territory.{{Cite web |url=http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/20766/overview4.pdf |title=Overview of the Roper River Catchment |date=January 2001 |access-date=1 May 2015 |website=Roper River Catchment: An Assessment of the Physical and Ecological Condition of the Roper River and its Major Tributaries |publisher=Northern Territory Government, Department of Land Resource Management |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401172739/http://lrm.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/20766/overview4.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2015 }} The Roper River is navigable for about {{convert|145|km}}, until the tidal limit at Roper Bar, and forms the southern boundary of the region known as Arnhem Land. Mataranka Hot Springs and the township of Mataranka lie close to the river at its western end. Port Roper lies near its mouth on Limmen Bight.

The river has a mean annual outflow of {{cvt|5.54|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004202657/http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/water/overview/nt/basin-roper-river.html|title=Basin & Surface Water Management Area: Roper River}}{{cite web|url=http://track.org.au/sites/default/files/managed/file-attach/biblio/Silvas%20Socioeconomic%20profiles%2050.pdf|title=Roper River|year=2009|access-date=12 May 2015|publisher=TRaCK}} It is one of only few major rivers in the Northern Territory that flows all year round sustained by groundwater.

Annual flooding is essential for the health of its nationally significant coastal wetlands and seagrass beds of Limmen Bight, that are habitat for turtles and dugongs, as well as the barramundi, prawns and crabs that are fished recreationally and commercially.{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Carol |last2=Turner |first2=Joel |date=February 2024 |title=Free-flowing Rivers of Australia’s North |url= |publisher=Territory Rivers: Keep ‘em Flowing}}

The traditional owners of the Roper River are the Ngalakgan, Alawa, Mangarrayi, Ngandi, Marra, Warndarrang, Nunggubuyu, Ritharrngu-Wagilak and Rembarrnga peoples.

The first European to explore the Roper River was Ludwig Leichhardt in 1845 as he made his way from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. Leichhardt crossed the river at Roper Bar, a rocky shelf which conveniently lies at the high tide limit on the river. He named the river after John Roper, a member of the expedition stating: "I found myself on the banks of a large fresh water river from 500 to 800 yards broad, with not very high banks... it was the river Mr Roper has seen two days before, and I named it after him, as I had promised to do."{{Cite web|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/roper-john-4503 |title=Roper, John (1822–1895) |date=1976 |access-date=1 May 2015 |website=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Australian National University }}{{Cite web |title=Place Names Register |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=18119 |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=www.ntlis.nt.gov.au}}

The largest tributaries of the Roper River:

^*Roper River ({{cvt|400|km|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Roper-River|title=Roper River}} with Waterhouse River ({{cvt|199|km|abbr=on}} is {{cvt|599|km|abbr=on}} long; Roper River with the Roper Creek ({{cvt|110|km|abbr=on}} is {{cvt|510|km|abbr=on}} long;

{{Further |Ngukurr}}

The Roper River Mission was established by the Church of England Missionary Society in 1908. After it was closed in 1968, the government took over management of the community.{{Cite web |url=http://www.communityservices.nt.gov.au/about_us/regional_services/major_remote_towns/ngukurr/profile# |title=Profile |access-date=2015-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123095232/http://www.communityservices.nt.gov.au/about_us/regional_services/major_remote_towns/ngukurr/profile# |archive-date=2015-01-23 |url-status=dead |website =Northern Territory Government. Dept of Community Welfare }} In 1988, control of the town was handed to the Yugul Mangi Community Government Council, and the township was renamed Ngukurr.{{cite web | publisher=The Australian National University | title=Roper River Mission - Place | website=National Centre for Indigenous Genomics | date=14 May 2015 | url=http://ncig-archive.anu.edu.au/biogs/IG00184b.htm | access-date=1 May 2020}}

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• List of rivers of Northern Territory

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{{Rivers of the Northern Territory |state=collapsed}}

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Category:Rivers of the Northern Territory

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