Goulburn River

The **Goulburn River** is a river in Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Murray-Darling basin and flows through the Victorian mountains, central and northern Victoria. The river starts in the Victorian Alps, below a mountain called Corn Hill. It flows for  and joins the Murray River near the town of Echuca. This makes it the longest river in Victoria. 

The river is held back by several dams and reservoirs, including the Eildon Dam, which creates Lake Eildon, as well as the Eildon Pondage, the Goulburn Weir, and Waranga Basin.

## Location and features
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The river begins near Woods Point, south of Eildon, in the Shire of Mansfield. It flows mostly north and west, passing near towns like Alexandra, Seymour, Nagambie, Murchison, Arcadia Downs, and Shepparton–Mooroopna before meeting the Murray River near Echuca. The Goulburn River has 41 smaller rivers and creeks that flow into it, including the Black, Jamieson, Howqua, Delatite, Big, Rubicon, Acheron, Yea, Broken rivers, and Seven Creeks. Over its long course, the river drops  in height. Together with the Upper Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, the Goulburn provides 45% of the total water flow in the Murray-Darling Basin. In comparison, the Darling basin gives only 31.7% of the water flow in the basin.

## River quality
A lot of the water from the river is used for irrigation and water supply, and the river is controlled by many dams and other structures. This has changed the river’s natural environment a lot. In recent years, the area has been very dry, which has made things harder for the plants and animals living in the river.

There was been a lot of debate about building the North–South Pipeline. This pipeline can send  of water each year to add to Melbourne’s water supply. Some people say this water has been saved by better irrigation systems in the Goulburn river basin, which is part of a project to modernize farming.

In June 2008, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission made a report about the health of the Murray-Darling basin. The Goulburn and Murrumbidgee rivers were both rated as being in very poor condition. The number of fish in both rivers was also very low.

## Recreation
The Goulburn River was named a Heritage River in 1992 because of its natural beauty, fun activities, and cultural importance. In June 2010, the Victorian Government made the Lower Goulburn National Park to protect the River Red Gum forests in Victoria. These forests grow along most of the river and have tall trees up to  high that can live for more than 500 years. The trees need floods to survive. They can stay in water for months. When floods happen, their seeds wash to higher ground, where they grow before the next flood. The trees have hollows and broken branches that birds like galahs, cockatoos, cockatiels, and parrots use for nests. Fallen branches give homes to other animals.

People enjoy many activities on the river, such as canoeing, sightseeing, picnics, swimming, and fishing. Fish like Murray Cod, Golden Perch, and Spiny freshwater crayfish live in the lower part of the river.

## Name
The river has many names in Aboriginal languages. In the Taungurung language, it is called "Warring", which means "big or large water."  Another word is "Bayyango", which means river in general. In the Ngurai-illam Wurrung language, it is called "Omio", but the meaning is not clear. In the Yorta Yorta language, the river has names like "Koninner", meaning "the country where the Murray and Goulburn rivers meet"; "Gungupna", meaning "deep waterholes"; and "Gaiyila", meaning "father of waters."

The river was explored in 1824 by Hamilton Hume and William Hovell. They named it the Goulburn River after Major Frederick Goulburn, the first Colonial Secretary of New South Wales.

## References