Pallinup River is a river located 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 ...
. It was previously known as Salt River.
The Pallinup rises 10 km southeast of
Broomehill, and flows in a southeasterly direction toward the coast passing through Kybelup Pool and discharging into the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
via
Beaufort Inlet.
The river is one of the longest rivers in the region and its tributaries flow through the towns of
Borden and
Gnowangerup.
The local
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
people also know the river as the Mara River; it is regarded as a place of historical importance as the Noongar have camped, fished and traded along the banks of the river for generations.
The river is
ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
and the
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 environm ...
at Beaufort Inlet can be closed to the sea for long period of time by a sand bar in the channel.
The water in the river is considered to be
saline with salinity levels varying from 3
‰
Per mille (from Latin , "in each thousand") is an expression that means parts per thousand. Other recognised spellings include per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille.
The associated sign is written , which looks like a percent si ...
when the river is flowing to over 50‰ in pools during summer.
Tributaries
The Pallinup has many tributaries including Warperup Creek, Six Mile Creek, Pendenup Creek, Peendebup Creek, Monjebup Creek and Corackerup Creek. No potable surface water sources are present in the Pallinup. The water quality ranges from brackish to saline. The best quality water streams exist in the
Stirling Range National Park
Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately south-east of Perth.
Description
It protects the Stirling Ranges, or Koikyennuruff, a range of mountains and hills over wide fr ...
area of the catchment, which is the occasional source of snow-melt water.
References
Rivers of the Great Southern region
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