Canning River

Canning River
Nyungar: Djarlgarra
Aerial photograph of the Canning River looking west towards the Indian Ocean
Location
CountryAustralia
StateWestern Australia
CityPerth
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationWandering
MouthSwan River
 • location
Melville Water
 • coordinates
32°00′11″S 115°51′02″E / 32.0031568°S 115.8506084°E / -32.0031568; 115.8506084
Length110 km (68 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftBull Creek, Bannister Creek, Lambertia Creek, Southern River, Churchmans Brook
 • rightYule Brook, Bickley Brook, Ellis Brook, Stoney Brook, Stinton Creek

The Canning River (Nyungar: Djarlgarra or Nyungar: Dyarlgarro) is a major river in southwest Australia, running 110 kilometres (68 mi). Its lower reaches run through the metropolitan area of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

The Canning River intersects with the larger Swan River at Melville Water to form the Swan-Canning Estuary, although by convention the estuary is often viewed as part of the Swan (itself a continuation of the Avon River). The Canning rises near Wandering and flows through the Darling Scarp. It is dammed at the Canning Dam in Ashendon and the Kent Street Weir in Cannington. The river and foreshore are managed by the Western Australian state government as part of the Swan Canning Riverpark.

Source and route

With headwaters on the Darling Scarp, the Canning meanders through suburbs of Perth on the Swan Coastal Plain, including Cannington, Thornlie, Riverton, Shelley, Rossmoyne and Mount Pleasant, before joining the Swan at Melville Water just downstream of the Canning Bridge.

Technical sources regard the Swan–Avon and Canning as separate rivers flowing into a single body of water, the Swan–Canning Estuary, at Melville Water, rather than treating the Canning as a tributary of the Swan. This distinction was noted as early as 1827 by James Stirling.

Bridges

Points

History

The first European contact was in 1801 when a French exploring party spotted the mouth. The crew subsequently named the mouth Entrée Moreau after Charles Moreau, a midshipman with the party.

The Canning River received its contemporary name in 1827 when Captain James Stirling aboard HMS Success following an examination of the region in March 1827 named the river after George Canning, an eminent British statesman who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time and whose government facilitated the funds for the expedition.

In November 1829, just five months after the founding of the Swan River Colony, an exploring party led by now Governor James Stirling chose a site for a new town named Kelmscott on the banks of the Canning River.

Convicts

Part of the Convict Fence in Canning River between Shelley Foreshore Reserve and Salter Point

Convicts partly constructed and maintained the Canning River Convict Fence. This structure is still a notable landmark to this day. It was built primarily for the use of barges carrying timber from Mason's Timber Mill in the Darling Ranges.

Algae bloom

Algal blooms occur naturally in the Canning River system; they are caused by a buildup of nutrients in the river. Human activities including farming, residential gardens and parklands are the major causes of increases in levels; the blooms are potentially toxic to both mammal and marine life. The Swan River Trust monitors the levels of nutrients and growth of the algae, issuing warnings and closing sections of the river to all activities. The Trust also operates cleanup programs to reduce the amount of nutrients reaching the river, as well phosphorus removal and oxygenation in areas were blooms have been identified.

The Trust is encouraged by the appearance of Azolla carpets on sections of the Canning River as this fern is known to reduce the amount of sunlight available to the algae as well as absorbing large amounts of phosphorus and other nutrients from the water. However, it is possible that Azolla carpets can cause deoxygenation and emit a strong sulphur smell.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About the river system". Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Kinsella, John (2017). Polysituatedness: A Poetics of Displacement. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-1337-5.
  3. ↑ Broomhall, Susan, ed. (2012). Rivers of emotion : an emotional history of Derbarl Yerrigan and Djarlgarro Beelier: the Swan and Canning rivers. [Crawley, W.A.]: Australian Research Council. Centre of Excellence. ISBN 978-1-74052-260-1. OCLC 820979809.
  4. ↑ "Discover the Swan and Canning rivers". Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "Discover the Swan Canning Riverpark". Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Canning Dam". About Australia. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Brearley 2005, p. 74.
  8. ↑ Brearley 2005, p. 81.
  9. 1 2 3 "History of river names – C". Landgate. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "European Settlement". Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  11. ↑ Carde, F.G. (1991) [1968]. Along the Canning: A History of the City of Canning, Western Australia, Covering its progress from Roads Board to Shire, to Town, to City (2nd ed.). City of Canning.
  12. ↑ McQueen, Jeanette (1963). Pioneers of the Canning District (Thesis). Graylands Teachers' College. p. 13.
  13. ↑ Detail from 'Municipal Heritage Inventory', City of Canning
  14. ↑ Hutchison, D.; Davidson, Dianne (1979). "The Convict-Built 'Fence' in the Canning River" (PDF). Records of the Western Australian Museum. 8 (1): 147–159. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  15. ↑ LePage, J.S.H. (1986). Building A State: The Story of the Public Works Department of Western Australia 1829-1985. Leederville: Water Authority of Western Australia. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7244-6862-1.
  16. ↑ "Algal Bloom - Swan River Trust media statement" (PDF). 16 March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Native fern on Canning River - Swan River Trust media statement" (PDF). 6 March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

Further reading

32°00′S 115°51′E / 32.000°S 115.850°E / -32.000; 115.850