Queanbeyan River
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The Queanbeyan River joins the Molonglo River at Oaks Estate just within the Australian Capital Territory.
In the town of Queanbeyan, the river is crossed by several roads, including by a rail bridge, Morisset street, the main road of Monaro Street (which becomes Bungendore Road or Kings Highway), and by a pedestrian footbridge near Isabella Street. The main bridge is called Queens Bridge, which as a plaque on the bridge states, was opened by Wal Fife, MLA, Minister for transport and highways on the 21st of July 1975.
The Queanbeyan Weir was constructed originally in 1901-2 which provided a pool in the Queanbeyan River near the centre of the town for the town's water supply. It is now a place for town beautification with several parks located along the river, such as Blundell Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, and Ray Morton Park. The weir also provides for minor irrigation requirements. A buttressed concrete gravity wall which was 58 metres long, raised an extra one metre to the height of 4 metres in 1951-1952. The weir has had serious impacts on native fish migration in the Queanbeyan river.
The Googong Dam, located on the river, was completed in 1979 to supply water for Queanbeyan and Canberra. The dam is located five kilometres upstream of the city of Queanbeyan and holds 124.5GL of water. The Commonwealth Government owns the dam which is operated and managed by ACTEWAGL, the ACT's electricity, water and gas utility supplier. The ACT Government manages the dam foreshores. Lower flows in the river downstream of the dam since its construction, together with below average rainfall for the past decade, have modified the river channel and led to an increase in colonisation by willows and river plants which enjoy low flows. Management of the river includes dealing with these weed probblems.
The Queanbeyan River was renowned as a beautiful river abounding in native Murray Cod, which once extended to the vicinity of Googong Dam, and native Macquarie perch, which extended to at least the headwaters of Googong Dam. Due to this abundance of native fish, the Queanbeyan River, along with the Molonglo River, was often known as the "Fish River" in the early days of settlement. Sometimes the Queanbeyan was further distinguished by being called the "South Fish River".
On more than one occasion in the late 1800s and early 1900s floods deposited live Murray Cod in the main streets of Queanbeyan. Sadly, this abundance of native fish did not last. A variety of ills including introduction of exotic fish such as Trout, overfishing, willow encroachment, siltation, and weirs blocking migration saw native fish populations in the Queanbeyan River close to extinction by the time Googong Dam was built.
The river has been seen unhealthy in the recent years by the council with the river being over run by carp and reeds. the council putt in place a resource development scheme to clean out the river including a catch a carp competition where the winners won $500 or fishing gear.
