Katherine River
Katherine River | |
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Katherine River at the town of Katherine during the dry season | |
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Etymology | Catherine Chambers, second daughter of James Chambers |
Location | |
Country | Australia |
Territory | Northern Territory |
Physical characteristics | |
Mouth | Daly River |
Length | 328 kilometres (204 mi) |
Katherine River is located in the Northern Territory, Australia. Its headwaters are in Nitmiluk National Park, it flows through the town of Katherine, and is a major tributary of the Daly River. The Katherine River drops around 384m over its 328 km length.
History[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Katherine_Low_Level_View_in_June_1962.jpg/220px-Katherine_Low_Level_View_in_June_1962.jpg)
The first European to see and name the river was the Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart on 4 July 1862, who named it Katherine after Catherine Chambers, the second daughter of expedition sponsor, the pastoralist James Chambers.[1] The major town Katherine was named after the river.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Katherine_River_Bridge.jpg/220px-Katherine_River_Bridge.jpg)
In late January 1998, heavy rain associated with Cyclone Les raised the level of the river by more than 20 metres and flooded a large part of Katherine town.[2] A more recent flood on 6 April 2006 caused a state of emergency to be declared. During this event the river peaked at a height of just below 19 metres at the Katherine bridge on the Stuart Highway.
Wildlife[]
Freshwater crocodiles inhabit the entire river, but while saltwater crocodiles are capable of travelling far upstream, no attacks have been recorded.[3]
See also[]
- List of rivers of Northern Territory
References[]
- ^ "Katherine Town Council". Town of Katherine. Katherine Town Council. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ "Katherine River Flood Study" (PDF). Department of Land Resource Management. Northern Territory Government. February 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ Lawson, Catherine (10 September 2020). "Refuge on the Katherine". Wild. Issue #177 (Spring 2020): 72–73.
Coordinates: 14°39′S 131°42′E / 14.650°S 131.700°E
- Rivers of the Northern Territory
- Northern Territory geography stubs
- Australia river stubs