Brodribb River

Brodribb
Brodribb River, Marlo from Bridge
Mouth of the Brodribb River in Victoria
Etymology	In honour of William Adams Brodribb.[1][2]
Location
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Region	South East Corner (IBRA), East Gippsland
Local government area	Shire of East Gippsland
Physical characteristics
Source	Errinundra Plateau
• location	Errinundra National Park
• elevation	334 m (1,096 ft)
Source confluence	South Branch and North Branch of the Brodribb River
Mouth	confluence with the Snowy River
• location	Lake Corringle-Lake Wat Wat Wildlife Reserve
• coordinates	37°46′45″S 148°30′52″E / 37.77917°S 148.51444°E / -37.77917; 148.51444
• elevation	41 m (135 ft)
Length	105 km (65 mi)
Basin features
River system	Snowy River catchment
Tributaries
• left	Ellery Creek, B A Creek, Ferntree Creek, Big River, Rich River, Tooti Creek, Jack River, Cabbage Tree Creek
• right	Goongerah Creek, Joy Creek, Dead Bull Creek, Dead Calf Creek, Ironbark Creek, Martin Creek (Victoria), Sardine Creek, Wild Cow Creek, Dynamite Creek, Gravelly Creek, Camp Creek (Victoria)
National park	Errinundra NP
[3][4]

The Brodribb River is a perennial river of the Snowy River catchment, located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.

Formed by the confluence of the South Branch and the North Branch of the river, the Brodribb River rises below the Errinundra Plateau within the Errinundra National Park east of the locality of Goongerah. The river flows generally south by west by south, joined by the Big, Rich, and Jack rivers and sixteen minor tributaries, flowing through a series of reserves and through Lake Curlip, before reaching its confluence with the Snowy River, within the Lake Corringle-Lake Wat Wat Wildlife Reserve in the Shire of East Gippsland. The river descends 337 metres (1,106 ft) over its 105-kilometre (65 mi) course.^[4]

An area of 17 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi) of wetlands along the lower reaches of the river has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a small breeding population of the endangered Australasian bittern.^[5]

In its upper reaches, the river is traversed on multiple occasions by the Bonang Highway. In its lower reaches, the river is traversed by the Princess Highway, east of Orbost; and the Marlo Road, north of Marlo.^[4]

The catchment area of the river is administered by the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.

At some time in 1850, 15 to 20 Gunai people were killed on the banks of the Brodribb River, a few miles south east of Orbost. The killing was reported to have been revenge for the murder of station cook Dan Dempsey, for lacing a gift of flour to local Gunai people with arsenic. The Aboriginal police were believed to have been involved in the massacre.^[6]

The river was named in honour of William Adams Brodribb,^[1] an early settler.^[2]

• List of rivers of Australia
• Gippsland massacres

• "Snowy River sub-catchment". East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority. Government of Victoria.
• "Snowy River - Catchment Map" (map). East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority. Government of Victoria.
• East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (2013). East Gippsland regional catchment strategy 2013 -2019 (PDF). Bairnsdale: East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority. ISBN 978-0-9758164-6-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.