The Mortlock River is a
perennial river
A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abs ...
located in the
Wheatbelt 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 ...
.
Course and features
The headwaters of the river rise near Belmunging then flow in a northerly direction, crossed by the Goldfields Road and continuing in a north-westerly direction to finally flow parallel to the Northam York Road and crossed by the
Great Eastern Highway
Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
. The river is 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 ...
; Mortlock River North, Mortlock River East and Meenaar South Creek. The river discharges into the
Avon River, just west of
Northam. The Mortlock descends over its
course.
[
The river is saline and delivers the most salt (approximately per year) into the Avon River.
]
Name
The river was named after the surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
Henry Mortlock Ommanney in the 1830s. Ommanney was the first Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an to visit the river during an expedition through the area in 1835.
See also
* List of watercourses in Western Australia
Western Australia has many watercourses with gazetted names, including rivers, streams, brooks, creeks, gullies, anabranches and backwaters.
This lis is complete with respect to the 1996 Gazetteer of Australia. Gazetteer of Australia (1996). ...
References
{{Rivers of Western Australia
Avon River (Western Australia)