The Margaret 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
Kimberley 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 ...
.
The river was named on 29 May 1879 by the explorer
Alexander Forrest
Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament.
As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particu ...
, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after his sister-in-law
Margaret Elvire Forrest, wife of his brother and superior, Deputy Surveyor-General
John Forrest, who was later to be
Premier of Western Australia
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...
.
The headwaters of the river rise in the
Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges
The Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges (formerly between 1879 and 2020, the King Leopold Ranges) are a range of hills in the western Kimberley region of Western Australia.
There are two conservation parks within the ranges, the Wunaamin Conservation P ...
west of
Halls Creek
Halls is a plural of the word hall.
Halls may also refer to:
People
* Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician
* Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress
* Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player
* ...
and flow in a westerly until merging with the
Fitzroy River. The junction of the two rivers is close to
Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Bea ...
. The Margaret River has 15 tributaries including:
Mary River, Gliddon River, O'Donnell River, Leopold River, Louisa River, Station Creek, Dead Horse Creek, Gidgia Creek and Boab Creek.
The state
Public Works Department
This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure.
See also
* Public works
* Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
set up a flow monitoring station on the Margaret River at the entrance of the gorge where it enters the Mueller Ranges in 1966. Debate continues about the use of the
Fitzroy River basin as a water source for the
South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
of Western Australia.
Fish such as the
barramundi
The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, Sout ...
,
freshwater sawfish
The largetooth sawfish (''Pristis pristis'', syn. ''P. microdon'' and ''P. perotteti'') is a species of sawfish, family Pristidae. It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical coastal regions, but also enters freshwater. It has declined dra ...
,
Greenway's grunter and the
false-spine catfish have all been found within the river system.
The
traditional owners
Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
of the areas around the river are the
Djaru
The Djaru people are an Aboriginal Australian people of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Language
Djaru is a member of the Ngumbin language family, and is related to Walmajarri.
Country
The Djaru people ranged along Margar ...
,
Gidja and
Gooniyandi
The Gooniyandi, also known as the Konejandi, are an indigenous Australian people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Language
Gooniyandi with Bunuba is one of the two languages of the Bunuban language family.
Country
Gooniyandi tra ...
peoples.
Image:Margaret River at Louisa Downs.jpg, Margaret River near the Louisa Downs homestead
References
Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
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