Nerang River

Nerang
River
256px View south at Surfers Paradise, 2007
Name origin: Yugambeh: little or shovel-nosed shark
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	South East Queensland
Local government area	City of Gold Coast
Tributaries
- left	Nixon Creek, Tonys Creek, Crane Creek (Queensland)
- right	Nerang Creek, Bridge Creek (Queensland)
City	Southport
Source	McPherson Range
- location	Numinbah Valley
- elevation	138 m (453 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth	Gold Coast Broadwater
- location	Southport
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates
Length	62 km (39 mi)
Basin	490 km2 (189 sq mi)
National park	Springbrook National Park
Reservoirs / dams	Hinze Dam; Little Nerang Dam; Lake Rosser; Lake Capabella
Man-made lakes	Lake Rosser; Lake Capabella
Islands	McIntosh; Cronin; Chevron; Paradise; Girung
Location of the Nerang River mouth in Queensland
Wikimedia Commons: Nerang River

The Nerang River is a perennial river located in South East Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast local government area and covers an area of 490 square kilometres (190 sq mi). The river is approximately 62 kilometres (39 mi) in length.

Course and features

The Nerang River rises in the McPherson Range in the Numinbah Valley on the New South Wales and Queensland border and heads north, then east where it flows through Nerang and reaching its mouth in the Gold Coast Broadwater at Southport on the Gold Coast and emptying into the Coral Sea. The river descends 255 metres (837 ft) over its 62-kilometre (39 mi) course. Major crossings of the river occur at Nerang where the river is crossed by the Pacific Motorway and at Southport where the river is crossed by the Gold Coast Highway.

The Nerang River catchment is the largest and most significant river system on the Gold Coast. Its upper reaches in the McPherson Range and Springbrook Plateau deliver flows through significant rural areas and also feed into the Hinze Dam, creating Advancetown Lake, the Gold Coast's main water supply, and Little Nerang Dam. These two reservoirs provide a large percentage of potable water for the Gold Coast and are managed by Gold Coast Water. The Hinze Dam has had a significant flood mitigation effect. In the river's lower catchment, multi-branched canal developments and a number of artificial tidal and freshwater lake systems have influenced and altered large aras of the floodplain. These canal developments provide a range of opportunities for many residents including boating and recreational fishing. The canals and lakes provide habitat to a range of aquatic, terrestrial and marine flora and fauna. The canal systems provide for drainage of stormwater and contribute to flood mitigation, but can periodically be subject to contamination via stormwater drainage.

A number of islands are located in the canal region of the river's lower catchment, including the Girung, Paradise, Chevron, Cronin and McIntosh Islands. Two man-made lakes are also located in the lower catchment, including the Lake Rosser and Lake Capabella.

The river's mouth was once located much further south. In the early 1800s it entered the ocean at Broadbeach and by 1930 its mouth was located where Sea World now is. The main driving force for this movement is the northward drift of sand along the coast.

Crossings

A number of river crossings of the Nerang River are named, including the following listed below (from upstream to downstream), together with their location relative to tributaries of the river:

Crossing name	Location(s)	Coordinates	Image	Purpose	Notes
Lyons Crossing
Staffords Road Causeway
Nixon Creek
Tony's Creek
Unnamed	Numinbah Valley
Priems Crossing
Nerang Creek
Hinze Dam	Advancetown			Pedestrian only
Narrow Bridge				Road traffic below Hinze Dam wall
Bridge Creek
Latimers Crossing
The Grand Golf Club				Private bridge
R. A. Stevens Bridge	McLaren Road
Crane Creek
Weedons Crossing	Weedons Road
Pacific Motorway interchange	Nerang Connection Road
	Pacific Motorway			Dual carriageway
Gold Coast railway line	Nerang Helensvale			Passenger rail
Ross Street Bridge	Carrara; Worongary; Merrimac Benowa; Ashmore			Dual carriageway
Bemuda Street Bridge	Broadbeach Waters; Clear Island Waters Bundall; Isle of Capri			Dual carriageway
Isle of Capri Bridge	Isle of Capri Surfers Paradise; Broadbeach			Via Roma
Chevron Island	Ashmore; Bundall		100px	via Thomas Drive (west)
	Surfers Paradise			via Thomas Drive (east)
	Cronin Island			via Southern Cross Drive
Anabranch Bridges	McIntosh Island (south)			Gold Coast Highway
	McIntosh Island (north)
Sundale Bridge	Southport Main Beach		100px
Gold Coast Light Rail Bridge				375 metres (1,230 ft) long with 12 spans supported by 26 bored concrete piles with steel liners.
Jubilee Bridge			100px	Removed in 1966
Gold Coast Broadwater

Etymology

File:Bundall, Queensland.jpg

Canal at Bundall

File:Gold Coast Skyline Dec 2013.jpg

Gold coast skyline view from Nerang River, Chevron Island.

The river was initially named the River Barrow by government surveyor Robert Dixon when he charted the Gold Coast in 1840, after Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty. The surveyor general Thomas Mitchell later changed many places to Aboriginal names, and this included giving the Nerang River its present name. Neerang or neerung are Yugambeh words meaning "little shark" or "shovel-nosed shark". But the local aboriginal people called the river Mogumbin or Been-goor-abee; and the peoples of the Tweed called it Talgai.

Recreation

Surfers Riverwalk

The Nerang River (right of image) and canals

File:Surfers-Paradise-Map.png

Part of the lower Nerang River

The City of Gold Coast Council is considering investing into the quality and capacity of the Surfers Riverwalk. The route would connect the Gold Coast Highway Bridge crossing of the Nerang River at Main Beach to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre at Broadbeach. The route includes

• The western facing beaches of Main Beach
• The anabranch foreshores of McIntosh Island.
• Jaraparilla Cove
• The Marriott Hotel boardwalk
• Budds Beach
• Surfers Central Riverwalk from Budds Beach to Lionel Perry Park
• The Paradise Island anabranch
• Cannes Avenue Reach of the Nerang River
• Cascade Gardens foreshores of Little Tallebudgera Creek
• Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre boardwalk
• Jupiters Casino Island foreshores
• Pacific Fair Shopping Centre

Boatramps

Boatramps that are open to the public are located at Waterways Drive at Main Beach, Budds Beach, Evandale, on the Isle of Capri, TE Peters Drive at Broadbeach Waters (Convention Centre), Carrara Road, Carrara, and at the Nerang River Parklands.

Nerang Riverkeepers Group

Established in 2000, under the Beaches to Bushland Volunteer restoration program, the group works to restore local endemic species along the Nerang River. A major ongoing project is control of the invasive cats claw creeper, registered as a Weed of National Significance. Cat’s claw creeper was introduced to Australia. It is native to Central and South America and the West Indies. It was first reported as naturalised in the 1950s. The seeds spread by wind or water. A woody vine, it invades warm native forests killing native trees and undergrowth. If cut down it can regrow from persistent underground tubers.

See also

• List of rivers of Queensland

External links

• The History of the Gold Coast at reflections.com.au