The Fitzgerald 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 wate ...

in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Surveyor General John Septimus Roe named the river during expeditions in the area in 1848 after the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Western Australia of the day,

Charles Fitzgerald Charles Fitzgerald ( – 29 December 1887) was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy and Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. Son of William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, Fitz ...

. The river rises near the Lake Magenta Nature Reserve about 300 m above sea level then flows in a southerly direction through farmland until it reaches the Fitzgerald River National Park. The headwaters are in a salt lake area where much of the land has been cleared for agricultural purposes; it is estimated that 40% of the

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, the ...

has been cleared. Once the river enters the national park it is flowing through unspoilt bush and has cut magnificent gorges into the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

spongolite {{unreferenced, date=February 2019 Spongolite is a stone made almost entirely from fossilised sponges. It is light and porous. The silica spicules fossilised with the sponges makes the material hazardous to handle by being highly abrasive. Becau ...

. Some of the

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 drainage b ...

of the river include Sussetta River, Jacup Creek, Tertup Creek, Tooartup Creek and Martin Creek. The river discharges into Fitzgerald Inlet which covers a total area of , the central basin and barriers have an area of and the delta areas have an area of . The inlet a very shallow

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, has some fringing vegetation and is wave dominated. The inlet, surrounding marshes and lower portion of the river are a DIWA-listed wetland. The area is a

drought refuge A drought refuge is a site that provides permanent fresh water or moist conditions for plants and animals, acting as a refuge habitat when surrounding areas are affected by drought and allowing ecosystems and core species populations to survive unt ...

for the

chestnut teal The chestnut teal (''Anas castanea'') is a dabbling duck found in Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Taxonomy The chestnut teal was described by the English naturalist Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1838 under ...

and is a good example of a naturally saline river with an undisturbed coastal lagoon. A vegetated sandbar exists between the wetlands and the ocean. The

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...

is breached for a few weeks most years following high rain events. The river is

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

, but was probably saline before land clearing, given that it rises in an area of salt lakes and spongelite would release salts as it is weathered. The river's flow is variable being negligible in dry years, very low under normal conditions but able to flow strongly after substantial rainfall in the area.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of the Great Southern region DIWA-listed wetlands