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Barron River (Queensland)

From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems
Not to be confused with Barron River (Ontario).

Barron
EtymologyIn honour of Thomas Barron, a Brisbane chief clerk of police.[1]
Location
CountryAustralia
StateQueensland
RegionFar North Queensland
Physical characteristics
SourceAtherton Tablelands
 • locationUpper Barron
 • coordinates17°27′16″S 145°29′15″E / 17.4544°S 145.4876°E / -17.4544; 145.4876 (Barron River (source))
 • elevation1,200 m (3,900 ft)
MouthCoral Sea
 • location
Machans Beach/Aeroglen
 • coordinates
16°51′48″S 145°45′40″E / 16.8633°S 145.7611°E / -16.8633; 145.7611 (Barron River (mouth))
 • elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Basin size
2,138 km2 (825 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • locationNear mouth
 • average29.4 m3/s (930 GL/a)[2]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftGranite Creek (Queensland), Flaggy Creek
 • rightPeterson Creek (Queensland), Tinaroo Creek, Clohessy River
WaterfallsBarron Falls; Tinaroo Falls; Dinner Falls
Herberton Range National Park; Mount Hypipamee National Park; Barron Gorge National Park
[3][4][5][6][7]

The Barron River rises on the Atherton Tablelands inland from Cairns in North Queensland, Australia. With its headwaters in Upper Barron, it flows through Lake Tinaroo, and the Barron Gorge, and eventually empties into the Coral Sea between Machans Beach and Aeroglen in Cairns.[8][1]

Geography

The Barron's headwaters commence in the Herberton Range National Park in the locality of Upper Barron (17°27′16″S 145°29′15″E / 17.4544°S 145.4876°E / -17.4544; 145.4876 (Barron River (source))) at an elevation of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and flow generally northward.[8] The Dinner Falls are located along the upper Barron River within the locality of Upper Barron and the Mount Hypipamee National Park (17°26′00″S 145°29′00″E / 17.4333°S 145.4833°E / -17.4333; 145.4833 (Dinner Falls)).[8][9]

The river then flows in a north-north-easterly direction across the Atherton Tablelands until it arrives at Lake Tinaroo created by the Tinaroo Dam.[8]

Below the dam wall, the river flows through the Tinaroo Falls (17°10′12″S 145°31′21″E / 17.1700°S 145.5225°E / -17.1700; 145.5225 (Tinaroo Falls)).[10][11]

After the waterfall, the river continues in a northernly direction before turning east after Mareeba towards Kuranda.[8] After passing under the Kuranda Range Highway's bridge and through the town of Kuranda, the river plunges from the Atherton Tablelands down the 260-metre (850 ft)-high Barron Falls (16°50′01″S 145°38′36″E / 16.8336°S 145.6433°E / -16.8336; 145.6433 (Barron Falls)). Then the river passes through the Barron Gorge to the coastal plains below in the northern Cairns suburbs.[12][8]

Much of the water that used to flow over the Barron Falls has now been diverted into upstream dams. Much of the water that does flow through the falls is used to generate electricity at the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station, which reduces the former grandeur of the falls.[13]

Freshwater Creek joins the Barron River below the Gorge and drains Lake Morris and the Lamb and Whitfield Ranges.

Before entering the Coral Sea, the river's delta splits into three distributaries (from north to south)

Two other distributaries also operate during flooding – Barr Creek and Half Moon Creek.

The river is the sole source of sand for the beaches to the north of Cairns.[16] Sand and gravel extraction from the river bed has supplied growing demand in the Cairns area. In the 1970s and 80s extraction rates reached 90,000 cubic metres (3,200,000 cu ft) per year, which was twice the replenishment rate at the mouth.[16] This has resulted in considerable beach erosion to the north.[citation needed]

History

There is a theory that over time,[when?] some of the Mitchell River's former headwaters were diverted by natural forces[vague] into the Barron River.[17] These include the Clohesy River and other tributaries that used to flow northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. With the extra water now flowing over the 260-metre (850 ft)-high Barron Falls, the steep, narrow Barron Gorge was formed.[18]

The European discovery of the river was by James Venture Mulligan in 1875.[19] In 1875 two police sub-inspectors, Robert Arthur Johnstone and Alexander Douglas-Douglas, named it after Thomas Henry Bowman Barron (circa 1835 – 24 June 1882), chief clerk of police in Brisbane.[20][1]

The lower reaches of the Barron River have a well-documented history of flooding dating from early 1900s.[21] Both agricultural and residential areas can be affected.[21]

Thomatis Creek has only been connected to the Barron River since 1932 and has been responsible for diverting part of the flow from the river.[citation needed]

Heavy rain associated with a cyclone early in 1939 caused substantial flooding on the Barron River and resulted in the river changing its course. The mouth of the Barron moved about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north from Casuarina Point on the northern Cairns esplanade to Ellie Point.[16]

Some of the river's worst flooding occurred in 1950 when a major tropical cyclone followed the contour of the Queensland coast for over a week.[22]

The Tinaroo Dam commenced construction in 1953 and was completed in 1858, creating Lake Tinaroo. The dam was first one built in Queensland with the primary purposes of supplying irrigation to farms, then mostly growing tobacco but now growing a wider variety of crops. It is one of the three largest water reservoirs in Queensland.[23][24][25] The Tinaroo Dam does little to mitigate flooding which mainly occurs downstream.[26]

The river gives its name to the electoral district of Barron River, a division of the Queensland Legislative Assembly formed in 1971.

A network of rainfall and river height field stations was established in 1995 to provide a flood warning system for the Cairns City Council.[27]

Rainfall records were broken in December 2023 when Cyclone Jasper crossed the coast. It resulted in non-stop torrential rain for 48 hours after the system stalled over southern Cape York Peninsula.[28] At Myola a peak of 14.09 metres was recorded.[26] The suburbs of Holloways Beach, Machans Beach and Yorkeys Knob were particularly hard hit by flooding.[26]

Fauna

The stocking of exotic sports fish into the river has led to a serious decline in the diversity and abundance of native fish.[29][page needed]

A total of 63 species of fish have been found in the river, including the glassfish, barred grunter, Snub-nosed Garfish, Fly-specked hardyhead, Mouth almighty, Bigeye Trevally, Goby, Jungle Perch, oxeye herring, eastern rainbowfish, Bony bream, Spotted scat, Giant gudgeon, Freshwater Longtom and Seven-spot Archerfish.[30]

Tourism

Tinaroo Dam and Lake Tinarro are popular for camping, fishing, waterskiing, and bushwalking.[31]

The Barron Falls are a popular tourist attraction and are often viewed from the Kuranda Scenic Railway and the Skyrail, both of which have stopping places for viewing and photography.[32][33]

See also

References

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Barron River (entry 1763)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "East Coastal Watersheds". Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "Map of Barron River, QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Map of Barron River (1), QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Map of Barron River (2), QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Map of Barron River (3), QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Water resources – Overview – Queensland – Basin & Surface Water Management Area: Barron River". Australian Natural Resources Atlas. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Layers: Locality; Mountains and ranges; Contours; Watercourse; Waterfall; Protected areas and forests". Queensland Globe. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "Dinner Falls – waterfall in the Tablelands Region (entry 10150)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Tinaroo Falls (entry 34608)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  11. ↑ "Tinaroo". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Barron Falls – waterfall in the Shire of Mareeba (entry 1761)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "Nature, culture and history | Barron Gorge National Park". Parks and forests. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Richter Creek – watercourse in Cairns Region (entry 28458)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "Redden Creek – watercourse in the Cairns Region (entry 28264)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Johnson, David (2009). The Geology of Australia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 197, 224–5. ISBN 978-1107393721. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  17. ↑ Whitehead, P. W.; Nelson, P. N. (4 July 2014). "Displacement of the Great Divide in north Queensland associated with Neogene lava flows". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 61 (6): 803–809. Bibcode:2014AuJES..61..803W. doi:10.1080/08120099.2014.927788. ISSN 0812-0099. S2CID 140191097.
  18. ↑ Shilton, Peter (2005). Natural areas of Queensland. Mount Gravatt, Queensland: Goldpress. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9758275-0-5.
  19. ↑ "JAMES MULLIGAN". The Cairns Post. No. 8813. Queensland, Australia. 26 April 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 5 May 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "Naming the Barron". Stratford Heritage Trail. The Stratford and Freshwater Community Association (SAFCA). Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Flood Warning System for the Barron River". Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  22. ↑ "KURANDA RAINS". The Cairns Post. No. 14, 976. Queensland, Australia. 7 March 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 5 May 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ↑ "Tinaroo Dam". Atherton Tablelands. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Tinaroo Falls Dam". Sunwater. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "About | Danbulla National Park and State Forest". Parks and forests. Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Newton, Matthew; McCarthy, Isaac (18 December 2023). "Far North Qld floods: Raw sewage leaking onto Cairns' streets as water supply restarted, Airport ready for flight". The Cairns Post. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  27. ↑ "Flood risks" (PDF). Geoscience Australia. p. 68. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  28. ↑ Turton, Steve (18 December 2023). "Far North Queensland's torrential rains result in record-breaking floods in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Jasper". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  29. ↑ Low, Tim. (2003). The New Nature. Penguin: Sydney. ISBN 0-14-300194-9
  30. ↑ "Barron River catchment". Fish Atlas of North Australia. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  31. ↑ "Lake Tinaroo, Atherton Tablelands Tropical North Queensland". Atherton Tablelands. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  32. ↑ "Kuranda Scenic Rail Experience" (PDF). Kuranda Rail Experience. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  33. ↑ "Barron Falls During Waterfall Season". Skyrail. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
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