Avoca River

Template:Short description Template:For multi Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox river The Avoca River, an inland intermittent river of the northTemplate:Endashcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters of the Avoca River rise on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees Range and descend to flow into the ephemeral Kerang Lakes.

Features and locationEdit

The Avoca River drains a substantial part of central Victoria. It rises at the foot of Mount Lonarch, near the small town of Amphitheatre, and flows north for Template:Convert<ref name="condition">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> joined by thirteen minor tributaries, and through the towns of Template:VICcity, Template:VICcity and Template:VICcity. Two major distributaries leave the Avoca River between Charlton and Quambatook: Tyrrell Creek, flowing to Lake Tyrrell, and Lalbert Creek flowing to Lake Lalbert.

Although the Avoca River basin is part of the Murray-Darling basin,<ref name="swr">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Avoca River does not empty into the Murray. Nowhere a large stream, it dwindles as it flows north, eventually terminating in the Kerang Lakes,<ref name="swr"/> a network of ephemeral swamps west of Kerang and about Template:Convert south of the Murray River.<ref name=bonzle/>

Although the Avoca River has a substantial Template:Convert catchment area,<ref name="condition"/> the fifth-largest in Victoria, most of that area is on the northern plains where rainfall averages only about Template:Convert per year,<ref name="condition"/> and where there is little runoff because the terrain is very flat. The mean annual runoff of Template:Convert per annum accounts for only 0.67% of Victoria's runoff.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Most of the water flowing in the Avoca River originates in the small upper portion of the catchment area, where rainfall averages about Template:Convert per year,<ref name="condition"/> most of it falling in the winter and spring.<ref name="CSIRO">Template:Cite book</ref>

Of all the Victorian rivers in the Murray-Darling basin, the Avoca River is the most variable.<ref name="condition"/> The average annual flow is Template:Convert, but recorded actual flows have varied from almost five times the average figure in very wet years, when the river can flood, to 0.5% of the average in drought years, when the flow is less than Template:Convert per day. In dry years, the flow can stop for many months.<ref name=depi/>

Although it is the only river of significance in the area, no major water storages have been constructed on it, but there are six weirs of only local significance. Little use of the river is made for irrigation because, during the peak demand periods of summer and autumn, it is often not flowing. During low-flow periods, the water is usually too saline to use on crops, but can still provide drinking water for sheep and cattle.<ref name=depi/>

The river is crossed by the Pyrenees Highway at Avoca, and the Borung Highway and the Calder Highway at Charlton.<ref name=bonzle/>

EtymologyEdit

As the river is relatively long, Aboriginal peoples from various cultural groups lived near the river course. In the Djadjawurrung, Wathawurrung, Wergaia, and Wembawemba languages, the river has several names, including Natte yaluk and Boca, both with no clearly defined meaning; Bangyeno Banip, meaning bunyip waterholes; Djub-djub-galg, meaning a place where melaleuca was abundant; Witchelliba, with witji meaning basket grass and bar meaning river; and Yangeba, with no clearly defined meaning.<ref name=vicnames/><ref name=clark>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>