Lost River?

Many of you would follow one or more of the ‘Lost’ pages, which share breadcrumb trails about places and people in the past that live on in photo albums and peoples’ memories. The photos you see here are from the Lost Pingelly Facebook page, reminiscing about the weir (now in ruins) on the Hotham River where it flows past the Hotham River Nature Reserve. Just 8km south of Pingelly, it was the site of the original town water supply and there was a pool nearby that was often used by locals for swimming, picnics and other gatherings.

The Hotham River at this location is one of the eight restoration sites we have been telling you about, which are all part of the Hotham-Williams River Action Plan (RAP). The site is bound to the north by private agricultural land and to the south is the Hotham River Nature Reserve, approximately 120ha of remnant native bushland managed by DBCA.

The channel of the Hotham River here is wide in parts, transitioning to a highly active meandering form, with eroding and retreating banks and considerable sediment deposition. Riparian vegetation has been impacted by the highly saline water, and is dominated by scattered trees and exotic ground covers. Salt-loving samphires have provided some stability and habitat by colonising the bed and banks. Also the gorgeous ruby saltbush (pictured). Two of our teeny-tiny species of native fish were recorded there in 2019 and 2020 during on-ground assessment of the RAP sites – western minnow and blue spot goby.   

The Hotham-Williams River Action Plan is a long term project and although this site is not in our initial priority projects, eventually as funding is available, our intention is to carry out weed control, revegetation and bank stabilisation as well as coordination of protective fencing with the neighbouring properties.

Although not what it once was, the Hotham River still provides a picnic spot during a visit to the Nature Reserve, particularly during the shoulder seasons of ‘first dew’ and ‘flowering’.

Photos of the old weir are courtesy of Peter Narducci.

This project is funded through partnerships with both South32 Worsley Alumina and Newmont Australia (Boddington).