Жаңбырлы Лачлан өзені: табиғаты мен тарихы

Intermittent river in New South Wales, Australia

The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: Kalari, Galiyarr) is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The Lachlan River is connected to the Murray–Darling basin only when both the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers are in flood. It is the only river in New South Wales with significant wetlands along its length, rather than just towards its end, including Lake Cowal Wilbertroy, Lake Cargelligo and Lake Brewster, and nine wetlands of national significance. The social ecological systems of the Lachlan River and its catchment include its upper tablelands, mixed farming slopes, through to plains, rangelands, and then lower floodplains. More than 100,000 people live in the Lachlan catchment. It is estimated that 12% of the state's agricultural businesses are located from within the Lachlan River catchment. The Wiradjuri lived along the Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers, in the area known as "the land of the three rivers". Acting Surveyor George William Evans visited the river in 1815, naming it the Lachlan River after Lachlan Macquarie, the governor of the colony of New South Wales. The Lachlan River was substantially explored by John Oxley in 1817. In the early days of colonial New South Wales, the southern part of the Lachlan was known as Fish River. It was only after further exploration that it was realised that these two rivers were the same river and the name Fish River was dropped. The explorer and naturalist, James H B Shaw, was one of the first Europeans to write about the birds and habitat along the Lachlan River. His article appeared in the Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 – 1907), Saturday 7 March 1885, page 28, 29 http://nla. gov. au/nla. news article71024608

In 1870 the river peaked at at Cowra. Since 1887, the highest flood level at Forbes was in June 1952 when the river peaked at at the Forbes Iron Bridge. During the flood in August 1990, 132 houses in Forbes were affected by flood with their yards or their floors covered by water. Other significant years of floods were: 1891, 1916, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1974, 1976, 1993, 1998, 2012, 2016 and 2021.

The Lachlan River is mentioned in the Banjo Paterson poem Clancy of the Overflow as well as the folk song Streets of Forbes.