Kalgan River
Encyclopedia
The Kalgan River is a river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in the Great Southern region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.
The mouth of the river is found at coordinates 34°57'3.13"S 117°58'41.41"E.

Geography

The river is 140 kilometres (87 mi) long and, along with the King River
King River (Western Australia)
The King River is a river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.The river rises east of the town of Redmond. The river flows for approximately and along with the Kalgan River drains into Oyster Harbour and finally King George Sound north east of Albany.The river was named after Captain...

, drains into Oyster Harbour. The lower 9 km of the river take the form of a drowned river valley with steep hillsides of forest and farmland, and the occasional outcrop of granite .
The river's source
Source (river or stream)
The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...

 is west of the Stirling Ranges' it rises north west of Kendenup
Kendenup, Western Australia
Kendenup is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Plantagenet. It is south east of Perth and north of Mount Barker. The Great Southern Railway passes through the town, being one of the original stations on the line...

 and flows generally southwards until it reaches Oyster Harbour about 10 km northeast of Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

.
The Kalgan River is the region’s fourth largest river in terms of average annual flow (53,400 megalitres), and has the third largest catchment area (2,562 km²).
The upper reaches of the Kalgan River lie protected within the National Park. These tributaries are marginally saline to brackish, suggesting the levels of salinity are natural. The loss of catchment vegetation (66% of the catchment is cleared) has increased salinity levels downstream. The lower section of the Kalgan River is tidal; a rockbar at the Upper Kalgan bridge separates the upper section from the tidal lower section.
The tributaries of the Kalgan River include Napier Creek, Boonawarrup Creek, Young River, Stony Creek and Gaalgegup Creek. The river flows through two pools of note; Meriwarbelup Pool and Noorubup Pool.

History

The Kalgan River was named the 'Riviere des Francais' by the French Scientific Expedition in 1803, captained by French explorer Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born a commoner in Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the Île de Ré. At the age of fifteen he joined the merchant navy, and at twenty joined the French East India Company...

, in the ship Géographe
French corvette Géographe
The Géographe was a 20-gun Serpente class corvette of the French Navy.She was named Uranie in 1797, and renamed Galatée in 1799, still on her building site, as her builder refused to launched her, as he had not been paid...

, which anchored in what is now known as Frenchmans Bay, and was subsequently known as the 'French River' by early settlers. The explorer Dr. Alexander Collie
Alexander Collie
Dr Alexander Collie was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who journeyed to Western Australia in 1829, where he was an explorer and Colonial Surgeon.-Early life:...

 recorded the river as 'Kal-gan-up' in April 1831. The name Kalganup is believed to be the Noongar
Noongar
The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...

 word for 'place of many waters'. Kalganup is also thought to mean 'place of fishes' and there are still the remains of Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 fish traps to prove the point.

Flora

The fringing vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 of the estuarine portion of the Kalgan River is dominated by the Saltwater paperbark
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...

trees surrounded by dense stands of coastal saw sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...

 and shore rushes
Scirpus
The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...

.
The downstream freshwater parts of the river have a much greater variety of species, with a fringing forest that includes swamp paperbark
Melaleuca
Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...

, marri
Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla is a bloodwood native to Western Australia. Common names include Marri and Port Gregory Gum, and a long standing usage has been Red Gum due to the red gum effusions often found on trunks.It is distinctive among bloodwoods for its very large buds and fruit Corymbia calophylla...

, jarrah, wattle
Taxandria juniperina
Taxandria juniperina commonly known as Wattle, Swamp Wattle, Warren River Cedar or Juniper Myrtle is a species of tree that grows in the south west corner of Western Australia. This plant was previously classified as Agonis juniperina but is now part of the Taxandria genus.- Description :T...

 and Western Australian peppermint trees
Agonis flexuosa
Agonis flexuosa is a species of tree that grows in the south west of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the Agonis species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in parks and on road verges in Perth.The species is commonly known as...

. Further inland, species such as swamp yate
Eucalyptus cornuta
Eucalyptus cornuta, commonly known as Yate, is a tree which occurs in an area between Busselton and Albany in Western Australia....

, flooded gum
Eucalyptus rudis
Eucalyptus rudis, Flooded gum, is a medium sized tree with rough, dark and light grey bark, however north of Perth its bark is smooth and very similar to Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Leaves are stalked, alternate, ovate to orbicular 12 x 7 cm, slightly discolourous and dull grey-green...

 and varieties of Banksia
Banksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...

and Hakea
Hakea
Hakea is a genus of 149 species of shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae, native to Australia. They are found throughout the country, with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia....

are found.
Parts of the riverbank that have been cleared support a variety of introduced weeds that are shallow rooted. In areas in which the native deep-rooted species have been lost, erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

 of the river bank has become a problem.
Many wild flowers can be found along the Luke Pen Walk, a trail that follows the river for the 9 km before it reaches Oyster Harbour. Some of the varieties include Hovea trisperma
Hovea trisperma
Hovea trisperma is an evergreen shrub in the Fabaceae family.- Description :The common hovea is a perennial short stemmed woody shrub to tall, the foliage is needle-like green leaves....

(common hovea), Hovea pungens (devil’s pins), Hovea elliptica (tree hovea), Adenanthos obovatus
Adenanthos obovatus
Adenanthos obovatus, commonly known as basket flower or jugflower, is a shrub of the Proteaceae family endemic to Southwest Australia. Described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière in 1805, it had been first collected by Archibald Menzies in 1791...

(basket flower), Lysinema ciliatum (curry flower), Leucopogeon pulchelus (beard heath), Banksia sessilis (parrot bush), Banksia squarrosa
Banksia squarrosa
Banksia squarrosa, commonly known as Pingle, is a shrub endemic to Western Australia.-Taxonomy:Specimens of B. squarrosa were first collected from near King George Sound in 1829 by William Baxter, and published by Robert Brown as Dryandra squarrosa the following year...

(pringle) and Acacia extensa
Acacia extensa
Acacia extensa is an erect shrub that is native to the South West corner of Western Australia. This particular species is resistant to dieback.- Habit :The Wiry Wattle is a perennial evergreen shrub that grows to a height of tall,...

(wiry wattle).

Fauna

The estuarine end of the Kalgan River is good fishing for many species including black bream
Southern black bream
The southern black bream, Acanthopagrus butcheri, is a species of marine and freshwater fish of the porgy family, Sparidae...

 with a few skippy, herring
Australian herring
The Australian Herring, Arripis georgianus, is one of four species within the Arripis genus. It closely resembles its 'cousins', the Australian Salmon, although it grows to a smaller size. Like the other members of its genus, it is found in cooler waters around the southern coast of Australia...

, mulloway and whiting
Sillaginidae
The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo-Pacific, from the west coast of Africa east to Japan...

.
The Kalgan River is renowned as being an excellent place to fish for bream and some of the State's largest bream have been caught in the river.
Smaller freshwater species that can be found in the Kalgan River include the western galaxias
Western galaxias
The western galaxias , also called the western minnow, is a species of fish in the genus Galaxias of small, Southern Hemisphere freshwater fish of the family Galaxiidae....

 (Galaxias occidentalis), the common jollytail
Common galaxias
The common galaxias or the inanga , is a species of fish from the galaxiid family that is very widespread in the southern hemisphere. It is a slim narrow fish with a forked tail and as an adult it lives in freshwater rivers and lakes. Common galaxias grows to a length of 40 to 120 mm, but can grow...

 (Galaxias maculatus), the mud minnow (Galaxiella munda), Balston's pygmy perch
Balston's Pygmy Perch
The balston's pygmy perch is a species of perch-like fish in the Percichthyidae family.It is found only in Australia.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....

 (Nannatherina balston), Nightfish (Bostockia porosa) and the western pygmy perch
Western Pygmy Perch
Western pygmy perch , is am Australian fish. After four years, they may reach 65 mm long.-Reproduction:...

 (Edelia vittata).
The river is home to a large population of birds. In the estuarine part of the river, species such as the Australian Pelican
Australian Pelican
The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...

, Little Black Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
The Little Black Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.-References: Database entry includes...

, Pied Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
The Australia Pied Cormorant , Phalacrocorax varius, also known as the Pied Cormorant or Pied Shag, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. It is found around the coasts of Australasia. In New Zealand it is usually known either as the Pied Shag or by its Māori name of Karuhiruhi...

, Pied Oystercatcher
Pied Oystercatcher
The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...

, Black-winged Stilt
Black-winged Stilt
The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize...

, Common Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
The Common Sandpiper is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the Spotted Sandpiper , make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize...

, Australian White Ibis
Australian White Ibis
The Australian White Ibis , is a wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia...

, Straw-necked Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
The Straw-necked Ibis is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their neck....

, Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
The Yellow-billed Spoonbill is common in southeast Australia; it is not unusual on the remainder of the continent, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. It is around 90 cm long, and has white plumage with a yellow bill, legs and feet. It nests in trees, marshes or...

, Pacific Gull
Pacific Gull
The Pacific Gull is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the Kelp Gull, which has "self-introduced" since...

 and Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...

 can often be seen.
The freshwater parts of the river also support an enormous variety of birds including Nankeen Kestrel
Nankeen Kestrel
The Australian Kestrel or Nankeen Kestrel is one of the smallest falcons, and unlike many, does not rely on speed to catch its prey. Instead, it simply perches in an exposed position, but it also has a distinctive technique of hovering over crop and grasslands...

, Australian Hobby
Australian Hobby
The Australian Hobby or Little Falcon is a falcon found mainly in Australia. It is also a winter migrant to Indonesia and New Guinea...

, Wedge-tailed Eagle
Wedge-tailed Eagle
The Wedge-tailed Eagle , sometimes known as the Eaglehawk in its native range, is the largest bird of prey in Australia, but it is also found in southern New Guinea. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail...

, Short-billed Black-Cockatoo
Short-billed Black-Cockatoo
The Short-billed Black Cockatoo or Carnaby's Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris is a cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia. Also known as the Large Black Cockatoo, or simply Carnaby's Cockatoo, it is black with white tail feathers and white cheek patches...

, Long-billed Black-Cockatoo
Long-billed Black-Cockatoo
The Long-billed Black Cockatoo, also known as the White-tailed Black Cockatoo or Baudin's Black Cockatoo is a cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia, closely associated to moist, heavily forested areas dominated by Marri .The binomial commemorates the French explorer Nicolas...

, Galah
Galah
The Galah , Eolophus roseicapilla, also known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, Galah Cockatoo, Roseate Cockatoo or Pink and Grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.It is endemic on the mainland and was...

, Little Corella
Little Corella
The Little Corella, Cacatua sanguinea, also known as the Bare-eyed Cockatoo, is a white cockatoo native to Australia and southern New Guinea....

, Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
The Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Glossopsitta porphyrocephala, is a lorikeet found in scrub and mallee of southern Australia...

, Red-capped Parrot
Red-capped Parrot
The Red-capped Parrot , also called the Pileated Parakeet , and King Parrot locally in Western Australia, is an Australian species of broad-tailed parrot related to the Rosellas.First described by German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, from a collection in Albany,...

, Laughing Kookaburra
Laughing Kookaburra
The Laughing Kookaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae, is a carnivorous bird in the kingfisher family Halcyonidae. Native to eastern Australia, it has also been introduced to parts of New Zealand, Tasmania and Western Australia. Male and female adults are similar in plumage, which is predominantly brown and...

, Willie Wagtail
Willie Wagtail
The Willie Wagtail is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, living in most habitats apart from thick forest...

, White-breasted Robin
Petroicidae
The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called the Australasian robins. Within the...

, Splendid Fairy-wren
Splendid Fairy-wren
The Splendid Fairywren , also known simply as the Splendid Wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the Blue Wren, is a passerine bird of the Maluridae family. It is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to...

, New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...

, Red Wattlebird
Red Wattlebird
The Red Wattlebird , also known as Barkingbird or Gillbird, is a honeyeater; a group of birds found mainly in Australia and New Guinea which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding...

 and Red-eared Firetail
Red-eared Firetail
The Red-eared Firetail is a species of estrildid finch found in the forests and coastal thickets of south-western Australia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 - 50,000 km². The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern.-References:...

.
Amphibious species that can be commonly be found in and around the river are frogs, such as the western banjo
Limnodynastes dorsalis
Limnodynastes dorsalis is a frog species from the family Myobatrachidae. The informal names for this species are Western Banjo Frog, Pobblebonk, Sand frog and Bullfrog. It is one of the endemic amphibians of Western Australia....

 and moaning frogs
Moaning Frog
The Moaning Frog is a burrowing frog native to south-western Western Australia.-Physical description:The Moaning Frog is rotund, with a large head and large, bulbous eyes. The dorsal surface is brown, with marbling of white, grey or yellow, and the ventral surface is white. The arms and legs are...

.
Reptiles frequently found in the area include Tiger snakes
Notechis
Tiger snakes are a type of venomous serpent found in southern regions of Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are highly variable in their colour, often banded like those on a tiger, and forms in their regional occurrences...

 and Dugite
Dugite
Dugite is a common name for the highly venomous snake, Pseudonaja affinis, an Australian species which can inflict a fatal bite.-Description:...

s.

Bridges

The southern end of the Kalgan River has two bridges of note: The Upper Kalgan bridge and the Lower Kalgan Bridge.
The Lower Kalgan Bridge was opened in March 1905. At 900 feet (274 m) in length, it was the longest of its kind over water in the State at the time. At this time, the bridge had a special navigation span, 40 feet (12.2 m) wide at the deepest part of the river.
The original bridge remained in place until 1958, when it was replaced, but the navigation span trusses were removed for preservation and are now on display in the park at the western end of the bridge.

Islands

The Kalgan River contains many small islands, particularly in the section below the Upper Kalgan bridge. The largest is Honeymoon Island (also called Elbow Island), which is slightly upstream of the Lower Kalgan bridge. This island has a small clearing and can be readily landed upon. A smaller island, Willie Island, is a little downstream of the Upper Kalgan bridge.

Dreamtime

The Kalgan River is a place of great significance to the local Noongar
Noongar
The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...

 people. A dreaming story tells us of a husband and his wife who lived in the Porongurup ranges. The husband beat his wife terribly but she escaped from him by stumbling through the thick bushland. As the wife ran through the bush, her digging stick trailed over the Earth and cut open the soil behind her forming the path of the Kalgan river.

Luke Pen Walk

The Luke Pen
Luke Pen
Dr. Luke J Pen was a biologist and environmental scientist in South Western Australia. He researched and wrote about rivers and their biology and management. He died in 2002...

Walk is a track that follows the Kalgan River; it was constructed in 1997. The walk is described as easy with the terrain being generally flat and even. With a total length of 9 kilometres (6 mi) it can take about 4 hours to complete the round trip.
The Luke Pen Walk was named after Dr Luke Pen, a local scientist, who made significant contributions to the local community with his preservation work. The walk was named in 2002 following the death of Dr. Pen.
The northern end of the walk is near the Upper Kalgan Bridge and is on the eastern bank of the river, the southern end of the walk is located at the end of East Bank road about 3 kilometres (2 mi) north of the lower Kalgan bridge.

Further reading

  • Muirden,Peter: Pen, Luke and Marnie Leybourne (2003) Stream and catchment hydrology in South West Western Australia Perth, W.A. Dept. of Environment. Department of Environment river restoration, 1442-6919 ; report no. RR19 ISBN 1920849246
  • Pen, Luke J.(1999) Managing our rivers : a guide to the nature and management of the streams of south-west Western Australia (editor, June Hutchison) East Perth, W.A. : Water and Rivers Commission. ISBN 0730974502
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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