The Warren 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

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

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 ...

with a

catchment 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 ...

encompassing the towns of Manjimup and Pemberton. The river was named by Governor James Stirling, probably after Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren under whom Stirling served whilst in action in North America in 1813.

History

The river was encountered in 1831 by Lieutenant William Preston RN, first of the ''Success'', then of the ''Sulphur''. Preston was in charge of a boat survey of the south-west coast from Albany to Fremantle. The boat was wrecked near Green Point and Preston and his crew were forced to make the first land journey from Albany to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, along the coast. Preston was a brother-in-law of Governor Stirling. The first settler on the Warren was Edward Reveley Brockman, who in 1862, established Warren House homestead and

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the banks of the river.

Geography

The river rises in the Tone State Forest west of Strachan, south-east of Manjimup. From the confluence of the Tone and Perup Rivers (at Murtinup) it flows in a south-westerly direction crossing the South Western Highway and then through the Warren State Forest, the Greater Hawke and

D'Entrecasteaux National Park D'Entrecasteaux National Park is a national park in Western Australia, south of Perth. The park is named after the French Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux who was the first European to sight the area and name Point D'Entrecasteaux in 1792. The pa ...

s and the Dombakup Nature Reserve, finally 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 ...

near Coolyarbup. The Warren is a medium-sized river originating in medium rainfall marri/

wandoo Wandoo is the common name for a number of Western Australian ''Eucalyptus'' species, all of which have smooth white bark. The original "wandoo" is ''Eucalyptus wandoo''. Additional species have been given this name because of a perceived likeness w ...

woodlands, flowing through

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

/marri forest and high rainfall

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cre ...

country to the coast. It is the second largest river by streamflow in the

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

- Walpole region.

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 ...

of the Warren River include the Perup, Yerraminnup, Wilgarup and Tone rivers, and Quinninup, Lefroy and Dombakup brooks.

Salinity

Prior to vegetation clearing for agriculture, salinity was recorded as approximately 120–350 mg/L, where <500 mg/L is considered fresh. The Wilgarup, Dombakup and Lefroy sub-catchments were initially cleared around 1925 as part of the Group Settlement Scheme. Extensive clearing in the 1950s and 1960s resulted in a significant increase in stream salinity, with water quality no longer considered fresh. The Warren catchment was declared a clearing control catchment in 1978 following concerns with rising salinity levels. Following this declaration, intensive revegetation was undertaken within the Perup and Tone River sub-catchments, which account for 60% of the salt load entering the Warren River. Salinity levels are leveling off and clearing within the total catchment is now estimated as 35%. The lower Warren River to the river mouth is considered slightly brackish, with a mean annual salinity of 990 mg/L for the period 1993-2002, measured at Barker Road gauging station. Dombakup Brook is recorded as being fresh (< 440 mg/L).

References

{{Authority control Rivers of the South West region Warren bioregion