Cooks River
Encyclopedia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
emptying into Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
. The course of the river has been altered to accommodate various developments along its shore. It serves as part of a stormwater
Stormwater
Stormwater is water that originates during precipitation events. It may also be used to apply to water that originates with snowmelt that enters the stormwater system...
system for the 100 square kilometres of its watershed, and many of the original streams running into it have been turned into concrete lined channels. The tidal sections support significant areas of mangroves, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
life, and are used for recreational activities.
Course
The river commences at Graf Park, YagoonaYagoona, New South Wales
Yagoona, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 20 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney region. Yagoona is an Aboriginal word meaning 'now' or...
, then flows approximately north-west direction through to Chullora
Chullora, New South Wales
Chullora, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and the Municipality of Strathfield, is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and forms a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.-History:The suburb of...
. It reaches its northern-most point at Strathfield
Strathfield, New South Wales
Strathfield is an Inner West suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Strathfield is located 14 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield...
, where it leads into a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
open canal, no more than one metre wide and thirty centimetres deep, and heads towards the south-east. Part of the river, where it runs through Strathfield Golf Course, has had the concrete lining removed. Here the plants have returned and have created an environment where the water is filtered and runs clean, and where wildlife has returned. One section here is called the Chain of Ponds.
At Belfield
Belfield, New South Wales
Belfield is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Belfield is located 14 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury and partly in the Municipality of Strathfield.-Location:Belfield has...
it joins with the Cox Creek Channel
Coxs Creek (Belfield, New South Wales)
Coxs Creek is a storm drain located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is about 3 km long and rises about 1 km north-east of Punchbowl railway station, flowing generally NNE into the Cooks River....
and flows in an easterly direction. The canal widens and deepens as it picks up stormwater from surrounding suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s, such as Campsie
Campsie, New South Wales
Campsie is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campsie is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, on the southern bank of the Cooks River. Campsie is the commercial and administrative centre of the City of...
and becomes influenced by tidal action.
At Canterbury
Canterbury, New South Wales
-Commercial area:Canterbury has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial developments. Commercial developments are mostly situated on Canterbury Road and surrounding streets...
, it is joined by Cup and Saucer Creek
Cup and Saucer Creek
Cup and Saucer Creek is a storm drain located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a tributary of the Cooks River into which it flows at Earlwood.-External links:*...
. Industrial areas line the Cooks River at Canterbury. In the past, factories discharged their waste directly into the water.
The valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
becomes more pronounced as the river reaches Tempe
Tempe, New South Wales
Tempe is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tempe is located 9 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Marrickville Council....
, where it is joined by Wolli Creek
Wolli Creek
Wolli Creek is an urban waterway of southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The sub-catchment is 22 km².Wolli Creek rises at Beverly Hills, at Beverly Hills Park. It is a lined channel between Kingsgrove Road, Kingsgrove and Bexley Road, Bexley North where it then enters the Wolli Creek...
and the Alexandra Canal
Alexandra Canal, Australia
Alexandra Canal is an artificial waterway in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.The canal is Sydney's first inbound waterway. It stretches 4 kilometres from the inner Sydney suburb of Alexandria, flowing through the suburbs of St Peters and Mascot, past Sydney's Sydney Airport to the Cooks...
. The Princes Highway
Princes Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
crosses the Cooks River and links Tempe
Tempe, New South Wales
Tempe is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tempe is located 9 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Marrickville Council....
to Wolli Creek
Wolli Creek, New South Wales
For the urban waterway see Wolli CreekWolli Creek is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It sits beside the Wolli Creek and Cooks River waterways...
.
The course of the final south-flowing section of river is entirely artificial, altered to accommodate the expanding Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
. Cooks River connects with Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
at Kyeemagh
Kyeemagh, New South Wales
Kyeemagh is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kyeemagh is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, on the western shore of Botany Bay. Kyeemagh is in the local government area of the City of Rockdale and is part of the St George...
.
The corridor of land beside the river is a conduit for many services along large parts of its length including electricity, high voltage lines, a high pressure oil pipe owned by Shell, and high volume sewage pipes. Many of the lower lying areas have been filled and are parks and sports grounds. In spite of this the river and adjacent lands are being recognised for their beauty, history, amenity, environmental value, if not also for potential for improvements. The walkway and cycleway beside much of the "river" is part of the path connecting Sydney Olympic Park with Bay.
Management
Care and control of the river is shared between many local councils and the New South Wales Government through agencies such as the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority, the Environment Protection Authority and the Sydney WaterSydney Water
Sydney Water is a New South Wales government owned corporation that provides drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains, in Australia...
corporation.
Environmental Issues
- Removal of native vegetationVegetationVegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
and habitatHabitat (ecology)A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
destruction - Modified hydrologyHydrologyHydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
including increased peak run-off rates due to covering of land with hard surfaces, concrete storm water canals" and re-routing of water courses - Pollution from motor vehicles, litter, sewage, illegal dumping, industrial, commercial and domestic activities
- NutrientNutrientA nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment. They are used to build and repair tissues, regulate body processes and are converted to and used as energy...
enrichment from surrounding environment, especially due to water runoffs from recreational parks, resulting in increased algalAlgaeAlgae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
levels
Water quality testing conducted by the Water Research Centre found quantities of pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals at levels similar to untreated sewage. A very old and broken sewerage system has been blamed for the contaminants which included soaps, insecticides, caffeine and anticonvulsants.
A group of local Councils fund the project named Riverlife
Riverlife
The Riverlife project aims to engage the community to actively appreciate Cooks River. The River is usually more a tidal inlet then a River although is capable of flooding and receives the stormwater from 100 square kilometers of a highly urbanised part of the Sydney Metropolitan area...
, which trains tour guides and organises interpretive walking and cycling tours of the "river" most weekends.
History
Prior to European Settlement, the river was part of the area owned by the CadigalCadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal, are a group of Aboriginal Australians who originally inhabited the area that they called 'Cadi', part of which later became known as the Marrickville Local Government Area of Sydney. Cadigal territory lies south of Port Jackson and stretches from South Head to...
people. The Indigenous Australian population used the river by fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and gathering shellfish. This had little effect on the river's natural ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. In 1770, Captain Cook sailed into Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
and made the first written description of the river as follows: "I found a very fine stream of fresh water on the north side in the first sandy cove within the island before which a ship might lay land-locked and wood for fuel may be got everywhere." The existence of the river appeared to make settlement a possibility, however when the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
arrived the river and valley was regarded as unsuitable. Captain John Hunter and Lieutenant Bradley both mentioned the shallowness of the water and large swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
areas.
The first land grants along the river tended to be fairly large and used mostly for grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
with some fishing and lime burning at Botany Bay. Governor Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
makes reference to a slender bridge in his 1810 diary
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
, adding that "the soil is bad and neither good for tillage or pasturage". Nevertheless, some farmers did find they could till the land and settlement along the river spread, and roads and crossings were made in several places.
In the 1830s a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
was built across the river, however this did not provide a clean water supply and the structure itself began to damage the river's ecology by preventing tidal
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
flushing of deposited urban silt. A second dam was built to serve a Sugar Mill
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
at the new village of Canterbury Vale
Canterbury, New South Wales
-Commercial area:Canterbury has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial developments. Commercial developments are mostly situated on Canterbury Road and surrounding streets...
. The location took advantage of the water supply and barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
transport. The Mill closed in 1855, however other polluting industries were later to follow including wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
washes, tanneries
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
and boiling down works. Despite the increasingly doubtful quality of the water, the river remained a popular place in the late nineteenth century for boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
ing, picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
s and swimming. By the 1880s tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
clearing resulted in erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
ing and expansion of reed
Phragmites
Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
beds, blocking river flow.
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
all the low lying land. At the height of the flood, the top of the Sugarworks Dam was covered by 2 metres of water. Authorities responded to the extensive damage and loss of animals by removing the dams and weirs. A proposed series of canals connecting the river with Sydney Harbour was not commenced. A sewage farm operated near the mouth of the river from 1889 to 1916. A railway was used in both the construction of mains and filtration buildings, as well as in the day to day operation, moving screened solids throughout the farm.
Concreting of the river banks commenced in the 1930s and the Cooks River Improvement Act of 1946 confirmed the policy this tidying up of an undisciplined stream within neat cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
boundaries. Engineers
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
diverted the original river mouth to accommodate Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s.
Initiatives from 1976 onwards have attempted to preserve and return the natural features of the river system with tree planting, pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
traps and landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
. Footpaths
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
and a cycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
track were built to increase recreational usage of the river. The NSW State Government has committed $2.9 million to the restoration of the sheet piling on the banks of the river. In November 2007 the Federal Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, then in opposition, made an announcement of $2million for environmental projects on the Cooks River.