The McArthur River is a river in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
which flows into the
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...
at Port McArthur, opposite the
Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands
The Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands is situated in the south-west corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia.
History
They were named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders in honour of Edward Pellew, 1st Vi ...
. The river was named by
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 ...
while he explored the area in 1845.
He named the River after
James MacArthur
James Gordon MacArthur (December 8, 1937 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor with a long career in both movies and television. MacArthur's early work was predominantly in supporting roles in films. Later, he had a starring role as ...
and the MacArthur family of
Camden, who were enthusiastic supporters of his expedition. The McArthur River has significance for the local Aboriginal communities, who use it for fishing and other traditional activities.
Description
The
McArthur River basin covers .
The basin is situated between the
Rosie River catchment to the north, the
Limmen Bight River
The Limmen Bight River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia.
The headwaters rise at the base of the Favenc Range near O.T. Downs and Broadmere Stations. It then flows in a northerly direction, with many smaller tributaries feeding the ...
to the east, the Barkly River catchment to the south and the Robinson River catchment to the west. The mean annual runoff is per year.
The headwaters of the rivers rise on the northern edge of the
Barkly Tableland. Tributaries of the McArthur River include Tooganginie Creek, and the
Kilgour and
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
rivers.
The river has a long tidal
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 ...
which extends inland to the town of
Borroloola. The estuary is in near-pristine condition,
and forms part of the
Port McArthur Tidal Wetlands System
The Port McArthur Tidal Wetlands System comprises a 994 km2 tract of tidal wetlands on the south-west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The land extends along the coast opposite the Sir Edward Pelle ...
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
.
[BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Port McArthur Tidal Wetlands System. Downloaded from on 22/09/2011.]
McArthur River zinc mine expansion
In 2007, plans to expand the
McArthur River zinc mine
The McArthur River mine is a zinc-lead mine, situated about 70 kilometres southwest of Borroloola, near the Gulf of Carpentaria in the northeastern Northern Territory, Australia. It is operated by McArthur River Mining (MRM), a subsidiary of t ...
, one of the world's largest zinc mines, were halted by a decision of the
Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. It was found that the approval of the expansion by Mines Minister
Chris Natt
Christopher William Natt (born 9 December 1952) is a former Australian politician and Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Football career
A ...
was invalid.
Traditional owners were concerned the proposal, which included a river diversion, had serious, long term and irreversible impacts.
In 2008, the case was heard by the Federal Court, which found that the expansion was illegal.
In early 2009, the Federal Environment Minister
Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician.
In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...
formally approved the mine's expansion.
Garrett placed conditions on the project which aimed to reduce the impact on the
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 ...
and migratory birds.
See also
*
List of rivers of Northern Territory
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur River
Rivers of the Northern Territory
Gulf of Carpentaria