The Bowen River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

, Australia.

Course and features

Formed by the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Broken River and the Little Bowen River near Tent Hill in the Normanby Range, part of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

, the Bowen River flows in a north-westerly direction along the base of the range then flows west across Emu Plains and is crossed by the Bowen Developmental Road just north of Havilah. The river then flows north-west again between the Herbert Range and

Leichhardt Range The Leichhardt Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, is a mountain range located in North Queensland, North Queensland, Australia. The range runs parallel with the coast about west of Mackay, Queensland, Mackay and has an average elevation ...

then discharges into the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

, south southeast of . The river descends over its

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

. The

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, 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 ...

of the river occupies of which an area of is composed of

riverine A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...

wetlands. The catchment is in poor condition with much of the riparian habitat having been cleared and prone to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. The area is mostly used for cattle grazing with the towns of Collinsville and Glendon both drawing their town water supply from the Bowen River Weir. The river has a mean annual discharge of . The Bowen River Weir supplies water to a coal mine, power station and the township of Collinsville.

History

The river was named in 1861 by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

, derived from the name of the town Bowen which was named in honour of Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen ( zh, 寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Anglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and H ...

, a Governor of Queensland. In the 1860s,

Richard Daintree Richard Daintree CMG (13 December 1832 – 20 June 1878) was a pioneering Australian geologist and photographer. In particular, Daintree was the first Government geologist for North Queensland discovering gold fields and coal seams for future ...

made mineral discoveries along the river. Daintree made the first systematic examination of the Bowen River coal seams near Collinsville. Circa 1865, the Bowen River Hotel was built at the top of a steep bank of the river (). The hotel is now listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

. Construction of the Bowen River Weir commenced in April 1982 and was completed in August 1983. The 6.5 million project is situated approximately south of Collinsville and delivers water to the Newlands Coal Mine.

References

External links

{{Rivers of Queensland Rivers of Queensland North Queensland

Course and features

History

See also

References

External links