The Minilya 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

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

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 ...

Location and features

The headwaters of the river rise in the south-west of the Black Range and flows in a generally westerly direction, joined by three minor

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 ...

: Minilya River South, Bee Well Creek and Naughton Creek. The river is crossed by the

North West Coastal Highway North West Coastal Highway is a generally north-south Western Australian highway which links the coastal city of Geraldton with the town of Port Hedland. The road, constructed as a sealed two-lane single carriageway, travels through remote and ...

near the Minilya Roadhouse and then later discharges into Lake MacLeod. The area is semi-arid with a landscape of woodland and scrub used for sheep and cattle grazing. The Minilya River descends over its course. The name of the river is

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

in origin but its meaning is unknown. The first Europeans to visit the river were the explorers who named it, Charles Brockman and George Hamersley, who visited the area in 1876. Brockman and Hamersley also named the

Lyndon River Minilya is a location in Western Australia north of Carnarvon on the North West Coastal Highway. It is at a junction in the North West Coastal Highway, where the turn off to Exmouth is from that location. The main highway then continues to the ...

and Brockman later took up a lease known as Boolathana then another property,

Minilya Station Minilya Station, most often referred to as Minilya, is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station that once operated as a sheep station in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The property is situated approximately south of ...

. 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 area are the

Tharrkari The Tharrkari, also referred to as the Targari, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Language The Tharrkari spoke one of four dialects of Mantharta, the other members of the dialect continuum being t ...

and

Baiyungu The Baiyungu are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Country According to Norman Tindale's figures, the Baiyungu occupied some on the Lower Lyndon and Minilya River, running in a southwesterly directio ...

peoples. The soils throughout the

river basin 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 ...

are eroded and the regional

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

is degraded as a result of cattle grazing from the numerous

pastoral station A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

s found through the area. As a result, fencing has been installed through the length of the river, water tanks and troughs installed and establishment of new grazing yards. The Minilya is prone to occasional flooding following heavy rain events as it did in 1905. More flooding occurred 1918 when

recorded in just over two months isolating the homestead. Further flooding occurred in 1942 with many station homesteads being left isolated.

References

Rivers of the Gascoyne region {{WesternAustralia-river-stub

Location and features

See also

References