| Hay River | |
|---|---|
Hay River flowing into Wilson Inlet |
|
| Origin | West of Mount Barker |
| Mouth | Wilson Inlet |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Length | 80 kilometres (50 mi) [1] |
| Source elevation | 225 metres (738 ft)[2] |
| Mouth elevation | sea level |
| Avg. discharge | 69400 ML/yr |
| Basin area | 129,800 hectares (320,743 acres) |
The Hay River is a river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
The river is part of the Denmark catchment along with the Denmark River (West of the Hay River) and the Sleeman-Cuppup River (to the east of the Hay River). [3]
The river rises West of Mount Barker near Wilpuna Park and flows south east as far as Ungerup then flows in a south south westerly direction through the Mount Lindesay National Park then crossing the South Coast Highway and discharging into Wilson Inlet.[4]
The tidal influence is 5 kilometres (3 mi) upstream from where the river flows into the inlet. The Hay river flows all year and the water quality is marginally saline to brackish. It is estimated that 70% of the catchment area has been cleared for agricultural purposes but 42% of the riparian zone was pristine.
Tributaries of the river include Sleeman Creek and Mitchell River.