Nerang River

Nerang River
View south at Surfers Paradise, 2007
Origin	McPherson Range
Mouth	Gold Coast Broadwater
Basin countries	Australia
Length	250 km
Basin area	490 km²[1]

The Nerang River is a river that begins in the McPherson Range in the Gold Coast hinterland and runs through Gold Coast City in South East Queensland, Australia. It starts in the Numinbah Valley on the New South Wales border and heads north, then east where it flows through Nerang and onto the Gold Coast Broadwater at Southport on the Gold Coast.

The Nerang River catchment covers an area of 490 km².^[1] It has a length of 250 km.^{[citation needed]}

Name

Canal at Bundall

Gold coast skyline view from Nerang river, Chevron island.

The river was initially named the River Barrow by government surveyor Robert Dixon when he charted the Gold Coast in 1840, after Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty.^[2] The surveyor general Thomas Mitchell later changed many places to Aboriginal names, and this included giving the Nerang River its present name. Neerang is a Yugambeh word meaning "little shark" or "shovel-nosed shark". But the local aboriginal people in fact called the river Mogumbin or Been-goor-abee. And the peoples of the Tweed called it Talgai.

Bridges

Crossings of the Nerang River include

• Jubilee Bridge. Has been removed.
• Sundale Bridge. Part of the Gold Coast Highway.
• Anabranch Bridges. Across the anabranch channel of the Nerang River that is no longer the main navigation channel. Two crossings north and south connecting McIntosh Island to the Mainland.
• Chevron Island. Both an east and west bridge connecting Chevron Island to the Mainland.
• Isle of Capri Bridge
• Bundall Road Bridge
• Ross Street Bridge
• M1 Crossing. Multiple Bridges
• Weedons Crossing
• R. A Stevens Bridge
• The Grand Gold Club (Private Bridge)
• Latimers Crossing
• Narrow Bridge below Hinze Dam wall
• Hinze Dam (pedestrian only)
• Upper Catchment Crossings (various includes Priems Crossing, Staffords Road Causeway, Lyons Crossing and others).

Dams

On the Nerang river is the Hinze Dam, creating Advancetown Lake, the Gold Coast's main water supply. Hinze Dam has had a significant flood mitigation effect.^[3] An older dam, higher up in the catchment and now called the Little Nerang Dam was an earlier water supply for the Gold Coast. The dams are managed by Gold Coast Water

Surfers Riverwalk

The Nerang River (right of image) and canals

Part of the lower Nerang River

The Gold Coast City Council is considering investing into the quality and capacity of the Surfers Riverwalk. The route would connect the Gold Coast Highway Bridge crossing of the Nerang River at Main Beach to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre at Broadbeach. The route includes

• The western facing beaches of Main Beach
• The anabranch foreshores of McIntosh Island.
• Jaraparilla Cove
• The Marriott Hotel boardwalk
• Budds Beach
• Surfers Central Riverwalk^[4] from Budds Beach to Lionel Perry Park
• The Paradise Island anabranch
• Cannes Avenue Reach of the Nerang River
• Cascade Gardens foreshores of Little Tallebudgera Creek
• Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre boardwalk
• Jupiters Casino Island foreshores
• Pacific Fair Shopping Centre

Boatramps

Nerang River Boatramps open to the public are located at Waterways Drive at Main Beach, Budds Beach, Evandale, on the Isle of Capri, TE Peters Drive at Broadbeach Waters (Convention Centre), Carrara Road, Carrara,and at the Nerang River Parklands.

Nerang Riverkeepers Group

Established in 2000, under the Beaches to Bushland Volunteer restoration program, the group works to restore local endemic species along the Nerang river.^[5] A major ongoing project is control of the invasive cats claw creeper, registered as a Weed of National Significance.^[6] Cat’s claw creeper was introduced to Australia. It is native to Central and South America and the West Indies. It was first reported as naturalised in the 1950s. The seeds spread by wind or water. A woody vine, it invades warm native forests killing native trees and undergrowth. If cut down it can regrow from persistent underground tubers.

See also

• List of rivers in Australia

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nerang River.

• The History of the Gold Coast at reflections.com.au

Coordinates: 28°01′S 153°25′E / 28.017°S 153.417°E / -28.017; 153.417