Snowy River

The Snowy River is also the name of a river in the South Island of New Zealand.

For the cave complex in New Mexico, USA, see Snowy River Cave.

The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into Bass Strait. Up until the mid 20th century, the river was notable for its high volume of fresh water, wide reach and large rapids.

While the river's course and surroundings have remained almost entirely unchanged, the majority of it being protected by the Snowy River National Park, its flow was drastically reduced in the mid 20th century, to less than 1%, after the construction of various dams and reservoirs at its headwaters in New South Wales, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. From 2002 to 2008 the flow was increased from 1% to 4%, however targets of 15% by 2009 and 21% by 2012 are unlikely to be met.

The poem The Man from Snowy River, set on the river and its surrounds, was written by 'Banjo' Paterson in 1890, which formed the basis of many subsequent works in film, TV and music theatre.

History

Exposed riverbed just south of the NSW/VIC border, a result of the reduction of the river's water flow by 99%.

Early History

The Snowy River was initially utilised sustainably as a food and water resource by Indigenous Australians for around 30,000 - 40,000 years prior to European settlement. Evidence of human occupation at Cloggs Cave, near the Snowy River, near Buchan, was dated at up to 17,000 years. Despite the cold climate in the river's higher reaches, the Ngarigo nation held territory around the Australian Alps and the Snowy Mountains in modern day New South Wales. As the river flowed southwards into modern day Victoria, it flowed in the Gunai nation's territory, particularly, the Krauatungalung clan's territory.

1950-2000: Reduced Water Flow

Main article: Snowy Mountains Scheme

The Snowy River originally had a huge flow during the spring snow-melt which flowed directly into the sea. In the 1950s and 60's, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a network of dams were built to collect and divert 99% of the Snowy River's flow through the mountains, to provide more water to the Murray and Murrumbidgee River agricultural basins for irrigation. Several hydro-electric power stations were also constructed to generate electricity. While there was initial public opposition to the diversion of the river's water during the 1950's and 60's, it was largely ignored as the scheme provided agriculture with more water and generated a large amount of jobs at the time.

By the 1990s, the low level of water in the Snowy River became a major environmental concern in Victoria and a political campaign began, which aimed to increase the water flow from 1% to 28% of its original flow from the dam at Jindabyne. An independent candidate from the East Gippsland district, Craig Ingram, was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1999 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006, on a platform to increase the flow of water in the Snowy River.

2000-present

After Ingram was elected to office, rather than attempt to increase water-flow, he became instrumental in the corporatisation of the Snowy Scheme, swinging the Victorian Government to sign the legislation. Although the Victorian, NSW and Federal governments promised that corporatisation would not lead to privatisation, in November 2005 they announced their intention to sell Snowy Hydro through a public float. Community groups rallied to stop the sale of Snowy Hydro and by June 2006 the Australian Prime Minister withdrew the Commonwealth's intention to sell Snowy Hydro.

The water flow prior to 2002 was less than 1%, this increased to around 4% by 2008. The target for 2009 is 15%, however this is likely not to be met. There is another target of 21% by 2012, however this is also unlikely given the failure to reach previous targets. Community groups and former Snowy Scheme senior management and employees continue to block moves by the incumbent CEO for Snowy Hydro Terry Charlton to sell or lease the Snowy Scheme two years after governments promised not to sell the Snowy, however, the future of the river remains uncertain.

Geography

The Snowy River near Suggan Buggan, in Victoria

The main headwaters of the Snowy River, which include the Eucumbene and Thredbo Rivers and many smaller alpine watercourses, meet near Jindabyne. From this point the river winds 352km southwards through inaccessible country, most of it occupied by the Kosciuszko National Park and the Snowy River National Park, eventually reaching the sea in the Snowy Inlet, at Marlo, near Orbost, Victoria.

In New South Wales, the river runs through the Snowy River Shire. Tributaries of the Snowy River include: the Mowamba River, Wullwye Creek, Maclaughlin, Delegate, Jacobs, Pinch, Deddick, Buchan, Rodger and Brodribb Rivers.

In 1986, Jennings and Mabbutt mapped four geomorphic classes in the Snowy River Basin; (i) Australian Alps; (ii) the Monaro Tablelands; (iii) the East Victorian Uplands and (iv) the Gippsland Plains. Each class is physically distinct from one another, and they are further described by Erskine et al. (1999).

Rainfall

The general distribution of rainfall over the Snowy River catchment is controlled by orographic effects. There is a strong rainfall gradient across the catchment. Average annual rainfall range from 1,800 mm over areas above 1,500m in the Alps of the north western corner of the catchment to below 500 mm along the rain shadow effected north eastern catchment around Dalgety. High rainfalls in winter and spring combine with the spring snow melt to produce the highest average stream flow in the months from June to November, with October having the largest monthly flows of the year.

Waterfalls

Comparrison of the width of the Snowy River, former and current.

The Snowy River below Jindabyne Dam contains four major waterfalls:

• Stone Bridge Falls
• Corrowong Falls
• Snowy Falls
• Pinch Falls

Lakes & Surrounding Mountains

Some of the lakes, reservoirs and surrounding mountains that the river winds its way through include, from upstream to downstream;

• New South Wales:
• Mt. Kosciuszko (2228m)
• Mt. Jagungal
• Lake Jindabyne
• Mt. Alexander
• Blackjack Mountain
• Mulligans Mountain
• Byadbo Mountain
• Mt. Trooper
• Victoria:
• Mt. Tingaringy
• Mt. Deddick
• Mt. Nunniong
• Mt. Bowen
• Mt. Sardine
• Mt. Tara
• Mt. Buck
• Mt. Raymond
• Snowy Inlet (0m)

Parklands & Protected Areas

Around 70-80% of the Snowy River's length is protected by national parks, these include, from upstream to downstream:

• Kosciuszko National Park - NSW
• Alpine National Park - VIC
• Snowy River National Park - VIC

Crossings

• New South Wales:
• Alpine Way - Jindabyne
• Dalgety
• Victoria:
• McKillops Bridge - McKillops Road
• Bete Bolong
• Princes Highway - Orbost

Cultural references

The natural environment surrounding the Snowy River formed part of the subject matter and setting for the 'Banjo' Paterson poem The Man from Snowy River, first published in 1890. The Snowy River has also been immortalised in a 1920 The Man from Snowy River silent film, as well as in the better-known 1982 film The Man from Snowy River and its 1988 sequel film The Man from Snowy River II (US title: "Return to Snowy River" — UK title: "The Untamed"), as well as in the The Man from Snowy River (TV series) and The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, all of which were based on the Banjo Paterson's poem.

Settlements on the Snowy River

There are very few towns located on the Snowy River, the following is a list of towns that sit on the Snowy River, ordered from upstream to downstream;

• New South Wales:
• Jindabyne
• Dalgety
• Ironmungy (nearby)
• Victoria:
• Willis
• Suggan Buggan (nearby)
• Buchan (nearby)
• Bete Bolong
• Orbost
• Marlo

See also

• List of rivers of Australia
• Snowy River National Park
• Snowy Mountains Scheme
• The Man from Snowy River (poem)
• Snowy River Shire
• Public Fight to Stop the Sale of Snowy Hydro

References

• Bevitt, R. and Jones H. (2008). Water quality in the Snowy River before and after the first environmental flow release from the Mowamba River. Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring. NSW Department of Water and Energy. Sydney, NSW.

• Bowling, L., Acaba, Z. and Whalley, P. (1993) Water quality in the Snowy River catchment area, 1992/93. Technical Services Division, NSW Department of Water Resources, December 1993.

• Brizga, S. O. and Finlayson, B. L. 1992. The Snowy River sediment study: investigation into the distribution, transport and sources of sand in the Snowy River between Lake Jindabyne and Jarrahmond. Department of Water Resources Victoria Report No. 81.

• Brooks, A., Russell, M. and Bevitt, R. (2007). Response to aquatic macroinvertebrates to the first environmental flow regime in the Snowy River. Snowy River Recovery: Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring, NSW Department of Water and Energy.

• Haeusler, T and Bevitt, R. (2007). Hydraulic modelling of a fish barrier – Pinch Falls, Snowy River. Snowy River Recovery: Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring, NSW Department of Water and Energy.

• Jennings, J.N. and Mabbutt, J. A. (1986). Physiographic outlines and regions. In Jeans D. N. (Eds), Australia- A Geography. The Natural Environment, Vol 1. Sydney University Press Australia.

• Marchant R. and Hehir G. (2002). The use of AUSRIVAS predictive models to assess the response of lotic macroinvertebrates to dams in south-east Australia. Freshwater Biology 47, 1033-1050.

• Pendlebury, P., Erskine, W., Lake, S., Brown, P., Banks, J., Pulsford, I. and Nixon, J. (1996) Expert Panel environmental flow assessment of the Snowy River below Jindabyne Dam. NSW Government.

• Reinfelds I. and Williams, S. (2008). Hydraulic modelling to estimate threshold discharges for sediment entrainment in the Snowy River, Australia. Snowy River Recovery: Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring, NSW Department of Water and Energy.

• Russell, M., Brooks, A. and Williams, S. (2008). Impact of the 2002-03 wildfires on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of the Snowy River catchment. Snowy River Recovery: Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring, NSW Department of Water and Energy.

• Seddon, G. S. 1999. Saving the throwaway river. Australian Geographical Studies, 37(3), 314-321.

• Turner, L. and Erskine, W. D. (2005) Variability in the development, persistence and breakdown of thermal, oxygen and salt stratification on regulated rivers of Southeastern Australia. River Res. Applic. 21: 151–168.

External links & Further Reading

• Snowy River Alliance
• Snowy River Flow Response Monitoring and Modelling
• Before & After Images of the Snowy River's decreased water flow