The Richardson River, an inland intermittent river of the
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...
catchment, located in the
Grampians
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian rang ...
and Wimmera regions of the
Australian state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. Rising on the northern slopes of the
Great Dividing Range, the Richardson River flows generally north and drains into
Lake Buloke
Lake Buloke is a eutrophic lake in the Wimmera region of north-western Victoria, Australia. The lake is fed by the Richardson River and is located adjacent to the township of . Lake Buloke is also one of the most popular duck shooting lakes in ...
, one of a series of
ephemeral lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
s that, whilst they do not directly empty into a defined watercourse, form part of the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
catchment of the
Murray-Darling basin.
Location and features
The Richardson River rises on the northern slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the Mori Mori Nature Conservation Reserve. The river flows in a highly
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
ing
course generally west by north and then east by north, joined by two
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 drainag ...
including the
Avon River, before reaching its
mouth in Lake Buloke; north of . The Richardson River descends over its course.
[
]
Etymology
In the Aboriginal Djadjawurrung
Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca rive ...
and Jardwadjali
The Jardwadjali (Yartwatjali), also known as the Jaadwa, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria, whose traditional lands occupy the lands in the upper Wimmera River watershed east to Gariwerd ( Grampians) and west to Lake B ...
languages, the river is named ''Larning'', meaning "your camp"; ''Witjibar'', meaning "basket grass river"; and ''Wallamyer'' with no defined meaning. In the Djadjawurrung, Jardwadjali, and Wergaia
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which mea ...
languages, the river is named ''Barnunung'', meaning "smouldering away". In the Djadjawurrung language, the river is named ''Kurakibiyal'' with ''kurak'' meaning "sand"" and ''biyal'' meaning "red gum". In the Jardwadjali language
The Wemba Wemba language is an extinct Aboriginal Australian language once spoken along the Murray River and its tributaries in North Western Victoria and South Central New South Wales.
Nari Nari, a dialect of Wemba Wemba, is part of a langu ...
, the river is named ''Willaring'', with ''wille'' meaning a "common silver grey possum". And in an undefined Aboriginal language, the river is called ''Wirchilleba'' meaning "a dry watercourse".[
Named after John Matthew Richardson who fell from his horse during Thomas Mitchell's 1836 expedition.
]
See also
* List of rivers of Victoria
References
External links
*
*
*
North-Central catchment
Rivers of Grampians (region)
Rivers of Loddon Mallee (region)
Wimmera
Grampians (national park)
{{VictoriaAU-river-stub