The Settlement Creek ( Ganggalida: ''Wollogorang'') is a creek located in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia.

Course and features

The headwaters of the creek rise between Calvert Hills and China Wall in the

and flows in a north easterly direction. It flows through mostly uninhabited plains country through Wollogorang Station then crosses the border into the northwest region of Queensland and later discharges into the Tully Inlet and then the Gulf of Carpentaria. As it flows through the savannah country it has carved out several waterholes that are critical habitat for many animals during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

. During the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

the creek is transformed when the waters breach the banks filling the floodplains create immense

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

areas. A total of eleven

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 ...

flow into Settlement Creek, including Bullet Creek, Nine Mile Creek, One Mile Creek, Tom (Magira) Creek, Redbank Creek and Camel Creek. The creek also flows through a number of permanent waterholes such as Gudindjina Waterhole, Baladana Waterhole and Dijwalnguna Waterhole. The creek descends over its course. The

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

occupies a total area of of which an area of is in the Northern Territory and the rest in Queensland. The watershed is wedged between the watersheds for the Calvert River to the west, the Nicholson River to the south and east. The population living within the catchment area is less than 100. The catchment area is mostly devoted to

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The a ...

with many

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stat ...

s. Other streams found in the catchment include James, Scrutton and Lagoon Creeks. Important wetlands found in the catchment include Wentworth Aggregation and sections of the Marless Lagoon and Southern Gulf Aggregation. The creek has a mean annual discharge of per annum.

Fauna

31 species of fish are found in the creek, including the glassfish, barred grunter, silver cobbler, milkfish, fly-specked hardyhead, treadfin silver biddy, golden goby goby,

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, Sout ...

, oxeye herring, mangrove jack, chequered rainbowfish, bony bream, catfish, Hyrtl's tandan, freshwater longtom, seven-spot archerfish and the gulf grunter.

History

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 right ...

of the area are the Ganggalida and Gananggallanda peoples who know the creek as ''Wollogorang'' which in their language means "happy running waters". The creek was later named by George De Lautour in 1873 when he travelled from

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

to Port Darwin

overlanding Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal ...

100 head of cattle. Upon reaching the creek he sent two of his party back to

Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Burketown had a population of 238 people. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton on the Albert R ...

as he considered them useless in the bush. The first Europeans to visit the area was the

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 ...

expedition of 1845 from

to Port Essington. The first pastoral leases were granted to settlers in 1881 when the Chisholm family took up Wollogorang Station in 1881. The river is prone to flooding following heavy rain events. In 2006 floodwaters from the creek and its tributaries closed the

Carpentaria Highway The Carpentaria Highway is a highway, which runs from near Daly Waters, Northern Territory, Daly Waters to Borroloola in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a sealed road and is part of Highway 1 (Australia), National Highway 1. The Highw ...

, part of Highway One. The dirt road was closed for over a week and required major maintenance following the deluge. In 2006 the creek was also earmarked by the Queensland Government for declaration under the

wild river A wild river (United States, Australia, & New Zealand) or heritage river (Canada) is a :river or a river system designated by a government to be protected and kept "relatively untouched by development and are therefore in near natural conditi ...

s legislation. Settlement Creek, Morning Inlet and the Gregory and Staaten rivers were all being considered for the extra level of protection with property owners being advised of the plan and given time to comment. By 2007 all the waterways had been declared as wild rivers.

References

{{Rivers of Queensland, state=collapsed Rivers of the Northern Territory Rivers of Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria North West Queensland

Course and features

Fauna

History

See also

References