Manning River
Manning River (Biripi: Boolumbahtee[2]), an open and trained mature wave dominated barrier estuary,[4] is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast districts of New South Wales, Australia.
Manning River rises below Mount Barrington, on the northeastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range within Barrington Tops National Park, east southeast of Ellerston, and flows generally southeast, joined by eleven tributaries including the Pigna Barney, Barnard, Nowendoc, Gloucester, Dawson, and Lansdowne rivers, descending 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) over its 261-kilometre (162 mi) course from the high upper reaches, through the Manning Valley, and out to sea.[3]
The river flows past the towns of Wingham and Taree. At Taree, the river splits and becomes a double delta. The southern arm reaches its mouth at the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean, near Old Bar. The northern arm is joined by the Dawson River and further downstream the Lansdowne River, reaching its mouth at the Tasman Sea, near Harrington Point; creating two separate entrances to the river: Harrington Inlet (north) and Farquhar Inlet (south). Within the delta there are several channels dividing coastal land into large islands, such as Mitchells and Oxley islands. Between Croki (in the north) and east of Bohnock (in the south), Scotts Creek links both the northern and southern passages of the river.
The Manning River is one of Australia’s few large river systems that have not been dammed for water supply purposes anywhere along its catchment. The local water supply is fed by Bootawa Dam, which is an offsite dam, however, water is pumped from the river to the dam whenever river turbidity and flow levels can allow. A small weir is located in the upper reaches of the Barnard River, part of the inter-basin water transfer of the Barnard River Scheme, enabling water to be pumped into the Hunter River to meet the cooling needs of Bayswater and Liddell electric power stations.[5][6][7] The scheme is shut down until needed but as of 2006 this scheme was partly decommissioned due to its rare use.[citation needed]
