The Shoalhaven River is a perennial stream that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wind wave barrier estuary
Location and features
The Shoalhaven River rises on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range, below Euranbene Mountain, about southwest of
Sydney. The upper reaches of the river flow northwards through an upland pastoral district near the town of Braidwood. The river works its way down into a remote canyon east of
Goulburn and emerges into the coastal lowlands at
Nowra in the
Shoalhaven district, where it is spanned by the
Nowra Bridge. The river is joined by thirty-four
tributary, including the
Mongarlowe River,
Corang River,
Endrick River, and Kangaroo rivers, and descends over its
watercourse.
[
]
Berrys Canal
The estuary has two entrances, approximately apart, that flow into the Shoalhaven Bight within the Tasman Sea of the Pacific Ocean. The southern entrance is located at Crookhaven Heads and is permanently open. The Shoalhaven River flows south via Berrys Canal to Greenwell Point, where it is joined by the Crookhaven River and then flows east past Orient Point into the bight, north of Culburra Beach.
The northern entrance is located south of Shoalhaven Heads, and is open intermittently, at times of peak flow and during flood events.
Use for water supply
Tallowa Dam is the only major dam on the Shoalhaven, and is a part of the Shoalhaven Scheme. It impounds the river's lower reaches to form Lake Yarrunga and part of Sydney's water supply. Some water is pumped out of the lake and over the Southern Highlands into Lake Burragorang. Proposals for a much larger water storage at Welcome Reef on the upper Shoalhaven have been shelved.
Environment
The Shoalhaven River and its main tributary the Kangaroo River were once renowned as an Australian bass fishery. Unfortunately, Tallowa Dam has been a potent barrier to migratory native fish with estuarine/marine juvenile stages, blocking species including Australian bass from more than 80% of their former range in the Shoalhaven system. Recent stockings of hatchery-bred Bass in Lake Yarrunga are an attempt to remediate the situation. A fishway for Tallowa Dam was completed in August 2009.
History
Indigenous history
The traditional custodians of the land are Jerrinja tribal peoples the surrounding Shoalhaven River, in its lower reaches, are the Aboriginal peoples of the lower catchment are Jerrinja tribal peoples which are the traditional custodians of the Shoalhaven .
The upper part of the Shoalhaven river, in the district around modern-day Braidwood, is the traditional land of Walbanga people.
European history
The explorer and navigator George Bass found the entrance to the Shoalhaven River during his whaleboat voyage down the south coast of New South Wales in 1797. He gave the name Shoals Haven to the river (now known as the Crookhaven River) because of the shoals of mud and sand he found at the river mouth.
Approximately west of Nowra are a series of properties along the banks of the Shoalhaven River that were a gift to the people of Australia from Arthur Boyd, his wife, Yvonne, and the Boyd family. Entrusted to the Bundanon Trust, along with further gifts by Boyd, including copyright of all of his artwork, these properties provide an environment that promotes visual arts, writing, music and other performing arts, and the promotion of education and research in the arts.
Crossings
The river crossings, from its headwaters to its river mouth, include:
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Ballalaba bridge
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Farringdon crossing between Farringdon and Bendoura
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Bombay bridge
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Warri Bridge carries the Kings Highway, near Braidwood. A bridge at this location was first opened on 23 September 1874,
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Stewart's Crossing is a ford on Stewart's Crossing Road.
-
Oallen Crossing was formerly a flood-prone single-lane timber bridge with a low-level concrete floodway for the Oallen Ford Road at Oallen Ford, near Nerriga, constructed in 1936. The timber bridge and floodway has been replaced by a longer higher concrete bridge crossing slightly downstream, around mid-2015 (date needs checking). .
[|url=http://www.goulburn.nsw.gov.au/site/files/ul/data_text12/4083494.pdf|] The new crossing is designed to permit higher speed travel and eliminates some sharp bends on the western side of the river and only to be overtopped by much deeper 1:20-year flood events.[|url=http://www.southcoastregister.com.au/story/2864017/one-new-crossing-gets-under-way/?cs=203|]
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Nowra Bridge carries the Princes Highway between Bomaderry and Nowra.
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Comerong Island Ferry carries vehicles and pedestrians to Comerong Island near the river mouth.
Historically, there was once a ford crossing at the former village of Larbert.
==Gallery==
See also
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List of rivers in New South Wales (L-Z)
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Morton National Park
-
Rivers of New South Wales
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Shoalhaven Scheme
Further reading
