Donnelly River (Western Australia)

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Donnelly River (Western Australia) - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 34°29′S 115°40′E / 34.483°S 115.667°E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donnelly River
Limestone cliff near the mouth of the river

Location
Country	Australia
Physical characteristics

Source
• location	11.6 kilometres (7 mi) east of Yornup
• elevation	333 metres (1,093 ft)

Mouth
• location	Southern Ocean
• elevation	sea level
Length	151 km (94 mi)^[1]
Basin size	1,667 km² (644 sq mi)^[1]

Discharge
• average	331 GL/a (10.5 m³/s; 370 cu ft/s)^[2]

The Donnelly River is a river in the South West of Western Australia. Its main tributaries are Barlee Brook and Carey Brook. The river runs primarily through state forest reserves, although 25 private landholdings are situated along the length of the river. Clearing of the catchment area is estimated at 20% with the land mostly being used for viticulture, horticulture, dairy, grazing and tourism.^[1]

History

The first European to sight the river was Lieutenant William Preston in 1831.^[3] The river was named by James Stirling, the Governor of Western Australia, in the 1830s after Admiral Sir Ross Donnelly, a friend of Stirling's father-in-law James Mangles. Bannister had stood in for Mangles at Stirling's wedding to Ellen Mangles.^[4]^[5]

Fauna

The Donnelly is one of the few catchments left in the state that contains all of the region's endemic freshwater fishes. Native freshwater species include salamanderfish (Lepidogalaxias salamandroides), freshwater cobbler (Tandanus bostocki), western minnow (Galaxias occidentalis), western mud minnow (Galaxiella munda), black-stripe minnow (Galaxiella nigrostriata), western pygmy perch (Nannoperca vittata), Balston's pygmy perch (Nannatherina balstoni), nightfish (Bostockia porosa), and pouched lamprey (Geotria australis). Locals have reported sightings of an elusive pod of freshwater dolphins, though their existence has never been confirmed.^{[citation needed]}

Many estuarine fish are found close to the mouth of the river, these include black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus), yellow-eye mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Australian herring (Arripis georgianus), and freshwater cobbler (Tandanus bostocki).^[6]

Several species have been introduced into the river, including eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), European perch (Perca fluviatilis), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The latter is the most common, being specifically introduced for angling purposes, with over 500,000 being stocked into the system between 1999 and 2004.^[1]

Flora

The river originates in an area of open jarrah-marri forest east of Yornup, between Bridgetown and Manjimup. The area contains an understorey composed of such species as bull banksia (Banksia grandis), sheoak (Allocasuarina fraseriana), snottygobble (Persoonia longifolia), prickly moses (Acacia pulchella), zamia palm (Macrozamia reidlei), balga (Xanthorrhoea preissii), and graceful grass tree (Xanthorrhoea gracilis).

The river then flows through a large area of tall karri forests. The understorey includes karri sheoak (Allocasuarina decussata), oakleaf thomasia (Thomasia quercifolia) and Western Australian peppermint (Agonis flexuosa).

Toward the coast the floral composition changes as the soils change to swampy flats and consolidated dunes. Species such as stout paperbark (Melaleuca preissiana), swamp paperbark (Melaleuca rhaphiophylla), yate (Eucalyptus cornuta), Warren River cedar (Taxandria juniperina), wonnich (Callistachys lanceolata), and various banksias start to dominate.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donnelly River.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Munro, Jennifer (2006). Donnelly River Action Plan (pd). Manjimup, W.A.: Manjimup Land Conservation District Committee. ISBN 0-9802852-0-8. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
^ "Context Report on Southwest Water Resources" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
^ Moore, George Fletcher (1834). Doyle, Martin (ed.). Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore: Esq. now filling a judicial office at the Swan River Settlement. London: Orr and Smith. p. 235. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
^ Statham-Drew, Pamela (2003). James Stirling: admiral and founding governor of Western Australia. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia Press. p. 47. ISBN 1876268948.
^ "History of river names – D". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
^ "Fish Fauna of the Donnelly River, Western Australia" (PDF). 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2008.

34°29′S 115°40′E / 34.483°S 115.667°E / -34.483; 115.667

v t e Rivers of Western Australia
Rivers of the Gascoyne region	Edmund Frederick Gascoyne Landor Lyons Minilya Thomas Wooramel
Rivers of the Goldfields–Esperance region	Alexander Dalyup Jerdacuttup Lort Munglinup Oldfield Phillips Steere Young
Rivers of the Great Southern region	Angove Bow Bremer Deep Denmark Eyre Fitzgerald Frankland Gairdner (Great Southern) Goodga Gordon Hamersley Hay Kalgan Kent King (Great Southern) Pallinup Shannon Walpole Waychinicup Weld
Rivers of the Kimberley region	Adcock Armanda Barker Barnett Barton Behn Berckelman Berkeley Bow (Kimberley) Calder Carson Chamberlain Charnley Drysdale Dunham Durack Elvire Ernest Fitzroy Forrest Fraser Gairdner (Kimberley) Gibb Glenelg Hann Hunter Isdell Johnston King (Kimberley) King Edward King George Laura Lennard Margaret (Kimberley) Mary May McRae Meda Mitchell Negri Nicholson Ord Panton Pentecost Prince Regent Richenda Robinson Roe Sale Wilson
Rivers of the Mid West region	Arrowsmith Bowes Buller Chapman Greenough Hope Hutt Impey Irwin Murchison Yalgar
Rivers of the Peel and Perth regions	Bennett Canning Dandalup Ellen Harvey Helena Hotham Murray Serpentine South Dandalup Swan Williams Claise
Rivers of the Pilbara region	Angelo Ashburton Balla Balla Beasley Cane Coongan De Grey Fortescue Frederick George River Hardey Harding Henry Maitland Nullagine Oakover Robe Rudall Shaw Sherlock Turner Yule
Rivers of the South West region	Abba Arthur Balgarup Bannister Beaufort Blackwood Brunswick Buayanyup Capel Carbunup Collie Donnelly Ferguson Ludlow Lunenburgh Margaret (South West) Preston Sabina Scott Tone Vasse Warren Worsley
Rivers of the Wheatbelt region	Avon Brockman Buchanan Dale Hill Lockhart Mackie Moore Mortlock Nambung Salt Yilgarn
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