The Dawson River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
located in
Central Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, Australia.
Course and features
The Dawson River rises in the
Carnarvon Range
The Carnarvon Range is a mountain range in Central Queensland, Australia. It is a plateau section of the Great Dividing Range. The Carnarvon Range is 160 km in length.
Geography
North eastern parts of the range have formed a plateau kno ...
, draining through the
Carnarvon National Park
Carnarvon National Park is located in the Southern Brigalow Belt bioregion in the Maranoa Region in Central Queensland, Australia. The park is 593 km northwest of Brisbane. It began life as a reserve gazetted in 1932 to protect Carnarvon ...
, northwest of the settlement of Upper Dawson. The flows generally south by east, crossed by the
Carnarvon Highway and then flows generally east through the settlement of where the river is crossed by the
Leichhardt Highway
The Leichhardt Highway is a major transport route in Queensland, Australia. It is a continuation northward from Goondiwindi of the Newell Highway, via a section of the Cunningham Highway.
It runs northward from Goondiwindi for more than 600 ki ...
. The river then flows in a northerly direction through the settlement of where the river is again crossed by the Leichhardt Highway. The river flows north through the settlement of and towards , crossed by the
Capricorn Highway
The Capricorn Highway is located in Central Queensland, Australia, and links the city of Rockhampton with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the Landsborough Highway at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began ...
. A little further north, the Dawson River forms
confluence with the
Mackenzie River to form the
Fitzroy River. From source to
mouth, the river is joined by sixty-four
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
, including the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
, and descends over its
course.
[ Several ]weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s have been constructed along the river to provide water for cotton and dairy farming in the region. The river catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
covers an area of .
Expedition National Park and the Precipice National Park
Precipice is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 377 km northwest of Brisbane.
See also
* Protected areas of Queensland
Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains around 500 separate protected areas. In ...
are protected areas along the Dawson River.
The Dawson River was one of a number of Queensland rivers affected by the 2010–11 Queensland floods
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
. As the river inundated the town of Theodore it was completely evacuated, a first in Queensland's history.
History
'' Gungabula'' (also known as ''Kongabula'' and ''Khungabula'') is an Australian Aboriginal language of the headwaters of the Dawson River in Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...
. The language region includes areas within the local government area of Maranoa Region
Maranoa Region is a local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. The town of Roma is the administrative headquarters of the region.
History
The Gunggari language region of South West Queensland includes the landscape within the ...
, particularly the towns of Charleville Charleville can refer to:
Australia
* Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia
**Charleville railway station, Queensland
France
* Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France
*Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France
** ...
, Augathella
Augathella is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Augathella lies on the Matilda Highway, is north of the town of Charleville, west of Roma and west of Brisbane (Queensland's capital). The ...
and Blackall
Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Blackall had a population of 1,416 people.
The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry ...
and as well as the Carnarvon Range
The Carnarvon Range is a mountain range in Central Queensland, Australia. It is a plateau section of the Great Dividing Range. The Carnarvon Range is 160 km in length.
Geography
North eastern parts of the range have formed a plateau kno ...
.
Ludwig Leichhardt
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...
explored the area in 1844 and named the river in honour of Robert Dawson, one of Leichhardt's financial backers.
In the 1920s, shortly after the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
politician Ted Theodore
Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the state Labor Party. He later entered federal politics, serving as Treasurer in ...
(1884-1950) launched an irrigation program on the Dawson River for returning soldiers. His intentions was to provide them with arable land along the river for them to take up farming, thus eschewing a post-war recession. After the 1922 Irrigation Act was passed, he started irrigation schemes on the Dawson River, for an initial 8,000 new farmers. However, the scheme was abandoned after he realized the soil was unsuitable for farming and the returning soldiers had no agrarian skills.
See also
* Boggomoss
*List of rivers of Queensland
This is a list of rivers of Australia. Rivers are ordered alphabetically, by state. The same river may be found in more than one state as many rivers cross state borders.
Longest rivers nationally
Longest river by state or territory
Althoug ...
References
{{Rivers of Queensland
Rivers of Queensland
Floods in Queensland
Central Queensland