Fitzroy River, Queensland
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The Fitzroy River ( Darumbal: ) 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 ...
in
Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...
, Australia. Its catchment covers an area of , making it the largest river catchment flowing to the eastern coast of Australia. It is also the largest river basin that discharges onto the Great Barrier Reef.


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 Mackenzie and Dawson rivers that drain the
Expedition Range Expedition Range is a mountain range within the Central Highlands sandstone region of Queensland, Australia. Robinson Creek cuts a 100 metres deep gorge through sandstone clifflines. Many spectacular side gorges add to the appeal of the area, ...
and the Carnarvon Range respectively, the Fitzroy River rises near
Duaringa Duaringa is a rural town in the Central Highlands Region and a locality split between the Central Highlands Region and the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Duaringa had a population of 26 ...
and flows initially north by east, then northward near the Goodedulla National Park. The river then flows in an easterly direction near the Lake Learmouth State Forest and parallel with the
Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...
through the settlement of , before turning south to where the river is crossed by the Bruce Highway. After flowing through Rockhampton, the river flows south by east past the Berserker Range past Humbug Point to the south of the Flat Top Range and eventually discharging into Keppel Bay in the
Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...
near the MacKenzie Island Conservation Park. From source to
mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...
, the Fitzroy River is joined by thirty-six
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' 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 into which the ...
including the Mackenzie River with its tributaries the Nogoa River,
Comet River The Comet River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. Geography Formed by the confluence of the Brown River and Clematis Creek, the Comet River rises in the Expedition Range, north of Expedition National Park and south of Rolleston ...
, Isaac River and its tributary Connors River; and the Dawson River which has two tributaries, the
Don River The Don () is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is betwee ...
and Dee River.


Catchment

The catchment area of the river occupies an area of Within the drainage basin an area of is composed of
estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
wetlands and an area of is made up of riverine wetlands. The catchment stretches from the Carnarvon Range in the west to the rivermouth in Keppel Bay, near Rockhampton. It is bounded to the north by 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 ...
catchment area and to the south by the
Burnett River The Burnett River is a river in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east ...
catchment area. The river has a mean annual discharge of . There are also several important aquifers providing groundwater extractions in the Fitzroy Basin. The Fitzroy River basin is one of a number that experienced extensive flooding during the
2010–11 Queensland floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
. In 2013, flash flooding in the Mount Morgan and
Biloela Biloela ( ) is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Banana, Central Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the shire. In the , the locality of Biloela had a population of 5,692. The loc ...
regions brought major flooding to the lower Dawson River catchment. The Don River and the Dee River also rose to new record heights. The Fitzroy River at Rockhampton rose above major flooding to .


Reservoirs

The Fitzroy River catchment system has many
weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s and
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s, used for farming, mining and domestic consumption. In the Dawson River sub-catchment, the major reservoirs from source to mouth are the Glebe Weir, the Gyranda Weir, the Theodore Weir, the Moura Weir, the Callide Dam, and the Kroombit Dam. In the Mackenzie River sub-catchment, the major reservoirs are the Comet Weir, the Fairbairn Dam, the
Theresa Creek Dam Theresa Creek Dam is a dam located 22 km south west of Clermont, Queensland, Clermont in central Queensland, Australia. It was constructed in 1983 by the Blair Athol coal mine, Blair Athol Coal Project to supply water for the town of Clermon ...
, the Bedford Weir, the Bingegang Weir, and the Tartrus Weir. In the main Fitzroy River sub-catchment the only reservoirs are the Eden Bann Weir and the Fitzroy River Barrage, with the latter capable of holding when full, to provide
potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
to Rockhampton city and surrounds. The Fairbairn Dam on the Nogoa River and several weirs downstream on the Mackenzie River provide water for irrigating a wide range of crops including cotton, peanuts, chickpea, corn and horticulture including citrus, table grapes, melons, supplying water for coal mines and domestic use for the town of . Rookwood Weir was completed in 2023. It is the largest weir built in the country since World War II.


History

The
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of the area in the Fitzroy River catchment are the Darumbal people, notably the Baiali and Jetimarala clans. They called it Toonooba. The river was given its English name by European colonial settlers and pastoralists, Charles and William Archer, on 4 May 1853 in honour of Sir Charles FitzRoy, at the time the Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, as Queensland did not become a separate colony until 1859. The famous boatbuilder Colin Archer was the first known individual to sail up the river, with his cutter "Ellida". The city of Rockhampton is situated on the river, some from the coast. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city was a major port, however rocky bars in the river prevented the Fitzroy from being used for navigation any further inland. As ships became larger, the lower reaches became less viable for commercial traffic, and today only pleasure craft and small commercial fishing boats use the river. Wharves which once lined the town reach at Rockhampton have now almost all disintegrated or been removed. Port Alma, in the Fitzroy River delta is now the nearest port to
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
. Predominant industries in the catchment are
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
mining, grazing and
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
. Glenmore Homestead was built at a property on the northern bank of the river northwest of Rockhampton. It was originally settled in 1858, is 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 ...
and operates as a tourist attraction today. The Fitzroy River in Rockhampton is often utilised for recreation. The Rockhampton Ski Gardens on the Fitzroy River just upstream from the Fitzroy River Barrage is used by sporting groups such as the local water skiing, dragon boat and rowing clubs. In 2018, a $36 million revitalisation of the Fitzroy riverbank in Rockhampton City was officially opened. Rockhampton's annual Rocky River Run is also held along the Fitzroy River. The annual fishing competition, the Barra Bounty is another event held on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton. The city celebrates the Fitzroy River each year at the river's own annual festival, the Rockhampton River Festival. In 2018, the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton was incorporated into the
Queen's Baton Relay The King's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The relay traditionally begins at Buckingham P ...
prior to the
2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...
. After running his leg of the relay, batonbearer
Mark Knowles Mark Knowles (born 4 September 1971) is a Bahamians, Bahamian former professional tennis player and coach. He is a former List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles tennis, doubles. He won three of the four Gran ...
handed the Queen's Baton to fellow batonbearer Craig McCormack who was then rowed across the river on a
dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...
as part of the relay. The Fitzroy river will host the rowing and canoeing events at the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.


Wildlife

The lower reaches of the river are home to salt water crocodiles. In 2003 a crocodile measuring more than long was captured. The most diverse range of
freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...
in the country are found within the Fitzroy basin. The prized Australian fish, the
barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer''), Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch (also known as dangri, apahap or siakap) is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Carangiformes. The species is widely distributed in the I ...
, breeds in the river along with sooty grunter and a separate genetic strain of golden perch. Some of the river's
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
and
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
have been classified by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
as the Fitzroy Floodplain and Delta
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA). It regularly supports over 1% of the world population of the
sharp-tailed sandpiper The sharp-tailed sandpiper (''Calidris acuminata'') is a small-medium migratory wader or shorebird, found mostly in Siberia during the summer breeding period (June to August) and Australia for wintering (September to March). Taxonomy The gen ...
as well as having a resident breeding population of the range-restricted
mangrove honeyeater The mangrove honeyeater (''Gavicalis fasciogularis'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Honeyeater, Meliphagidae. The species was once considered to be conspecific with the varied honeyeater, but it is now treated as a separate specie ...
. At the mouth of the river researchers have discovered a genetically distinct snubfin dolphins species with a population of just 70 animals. The
World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...
had concerns that a planned coal port on Balaclava Island by
Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter o ...
could wipe out the local snubfin population. In 2013 Glencore Xstrata halted its plans for the coal port due to high costs and massively reduced worldwide demand for coal. The firm cited a poor medium-term outlook for the coal industry.


Gallery

StateLibQld 1 237307 Shipping on the Fitzroy River, Rockhampton wharves.jpg, Shipping on the Fitzroy River, Rockhampton wharves, Rockhampton in flood 2.jpg, Rockhampton in flood Fitzroy River Flood 2013.JPG, Rockhampton in flood, 2013 Mangrove Honeyeater Decept.Bay Dec06.jpg, The lower reaches of the river are an important site for
mangrove honeyeater The mangrove honeyeater (''Gavicalis fasciogularis'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Honeyeater, Meliphagidae. The species was once considered to be conspecific with the varied honeyeater, but it is now treated as a separate specie ...
s


See also

*


References


External links


Map of the Fitzroy River catchment area, from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology
* * * {{Authority control Rivers of Queensland Rockhampton Floods in Queensland Important Bird Areas of Queensland Bodies of water of the Coral Sea