Hutt River (Western Australia)

Hutt River
Location
CountryAustralia
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • location23 km (14 mi) north-east of Northampton
 • elevation284 m (932 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
Broken Anchor Bay, Indian Ocean
Length60 km (37 mi)
Basin size1,078.43 km2 (416 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average10,660 ML/a (0.338 m3/s; 11.93 cu ft/s)

Hutt River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia.

The river rises 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the North West Coastal Highway, between Northampton and Binnu. It flows in a westerly direction until reaching Broken Anchor Bay on the Indian Ocean 6 kilometres (4 mi) south-east of Port Gregory. The main tributary for the Hutt River is Kennedy Creek. Others are Yarder Gully and Swamp Gully, which are important contributors of fresh water to the river.[1]

Under normal flow, the Hutt River runs to the north for less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) before breaking through the final dune and flowing to the sea. Under heavy flow it breaks straight through.[2]

Hutt Lagoon, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the river mouth, is a marginal marine salina. Similar to Lake MacLeod, north of Carnarvon, Hutt Lagoon is fed by marine waters through a barrier ridge and by meteoric waters through springs. Due to the salina's below-sea-level position, seepage of seawater into the salina is continuous year round.[3]

  1. ^ "The Hutt River". Rivers of Western Australia. Greening Australia Ltd. 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  2. ^ Brearley, Anne (2005). Ernest Hodgkin's Swanland: Estuaries and coastal lagoons of Southwestern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. pp. 272–274. ISBN 1-920694-38-2.
  3. ^ Handford, C . Robertson (1991). "Marginal Marine Halite: Sabkhas and Salinas". In Judith L Melvin (ed.). Evaporites, Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Vol. 50. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p. 47. ISBN 0-444-88680-X. Retrieved 23 July 2012.[permanent dead link]