Comet River

The Comet River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia.

Comet
The Comet River near Rolleston
Location of Comet River mouth in Queensland
Location
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	Central Queensland
Township	Rolleston; Comet
Physical characteristics
Source	Expedition Range
Source confluence	Brown River and Clematis Creek
• location	south of Rolleston
• coordinates	24°43′40″S 148°43′30″E
• elevation	237 m (778 ft)
Mouth	confluence with the Nogoa River to form the Mackenzie River
• location	north of Comet
• coordinates	23°33′21″S 148°32′11″E
• elevation	144 m (472 ft)
Length	294 km (183 mi)
Basin size	16,460 km2 (6,360 sq mi)[1]
Basin features
River system	Fitzroy River
National park	Expedition National Park
[2][3]

Geography

Formed by the confluence of the Brown River and Clematis Creek, the Comet River rises in the Expedition Range, north of Expedition National Park and south of Rolleston. The river flows north, joined by seventeen tributaries, and splits as an anabranch on multiple occasions. The river flows through the Teatree Waterhole and Comet towards its confluence with the Nogoa River to form the Mackenzie River. The river descends 93 metres (305 ft) over its 294-kilometre (183 mi) course. The river is crossed by the Dawson Highway at Rolleston and the Capricorn Highway at Comet.^[2] The river traverses elevations between 144 and 1,243 m above mean sea level.^[1]

Water management

The Comet River Weir is the main water storage facility on the river, with a surface area of 13 hectares (32 acres) when full.^[3] In the late 1990s the river was proposed as the site for the Starlee Dam 16km north of Rolleston. The dam with a capacity of up to 1.3 million megalitres would have inundated the town of Rolleston, but was scrapped by the Queensland Government due to "significant and severe impacts" on the environment.^[4]

History

Wadja (also known as Wadjigu, Wadya, Wadjainngo, Mandalgu, and Wadjigun) is an Australian Aboriginal language in Central Queensland. The language region includes the local government areas of the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda and Central Highlands Region, including the Blackdown Tablelands. the Comet River, and the Expedition Range, and the towns of Woorabinda, Springsure and Rolleston.^[5]

See also

• Queensland portal
• Water portal
• Environment portal

• List of rivers of Australia § Queensland

References

1. Cheng, Zhuo; Yu, Bofu (November 2019). "Effect of land clearing and climate variability on streamflow for two large basins in Central Queensland, Australia". Journal of Hydrology. 578: 124041. Bibcode:2019JHyd..57824041C. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124041. S2CID 202194042. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
2. "Map of Comet River, QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
3. "Map of Comet River (the weir), QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
4. "Santos GLNG GFD Project-NICH Technical Report" (PDF). October 2014.
5. This Wikipedia article incorporates CC BY 4.0 licensed text from: "Wadja". Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages map. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 5 February 2020.