The Macquarie River or Wambuul is part of the Macquarie–Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales, Australia.
The river rises in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon and travels generally northwest past the towns of Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine, and Warren to the Macquarie Marshes. The Macquarie Marshes then drain into the Darling River via the lower Barwon River.
Lake Burrendong is a large reservoir with capacity of located near Wellington which impounds the waters of the Wambuul Macquarie River and its tributaries the Cudgegong River and the Turon River for flood control and irrigation.
Name
The Wiradjuri are the people of the three rivers, Wambuul, Kalare (Lachlan) and the Murrumbidjeri (Murrumbidgee). Wambuul means winding river, and included the tributary Fish River. It has also been spelt Wambool.
The river was first documented for the British crown near Bathurst by European explorer, George Evans in 1812, who named the river in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, who served as Governor of the Colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821.
In December 2021, Wambuul was recognised as an official dual name by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales after support from a local movement and the Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council. Either or both names may be used and both are given equal status.
Geography
From its origin the Wambuul Macquarie River flows for and drops around over its length. Lake Burrendong at is the only dam along the length of the river. Windamere dam, on the Cudgegong River, is operated in conjunction with Burrendong.
Sources
The Macquarie River starts below the locality of White Rock near Bathurst at an elevation of . It is a combination of two water systems which are the overflow from Chifley Dam which is fed by the Campbells River, and the Fish River which flows into and out of the Oberon Dam.
Tributaries
A number of rivers and creeks flow into the Wambuul Macquarie River, with descending elevation as follows:
Communities and bridge crossings along the river
Catchment
The Macquarie system covers an area of more than . Over 72% of land is flat, with an additional 17% undulating to hilly. The remainder is steep to mountainous, rising progressively to elevations above . To the east the boundary is formed by the Great Dividing Range. This boundary extends from near Oberon in the south to Coolah in the north. A well defined ridge extends north-west from the Great Dividing Range for around , then the boundary turns north.
From Bathurst, near the formation of the river, it passes through the following geographic areas: Bathurst Plains, undulating country of elevation surrounded by high tablelands on all sides. This includes an extensive floodplain around Bathurst past Hill End Plateau, where it is joined from the east by the Turon River, the river drains a plateau extending from near Portland to Sofala. The elevation is around in the south and in the north. This area is predominantly rugged slopes. Burrendong Dam, the Macquarie River is joined from the east by the Cudgegong River, which rises in the hills around Rylstone with a general elevation around through Wellington and Dubbo where the river is joined by the Bell and Little Rivers. The Bell River rises in flat to undulating country of the Orange plateau, which has a general elevation of with the highest point being the extinct volcanic peak of Mount Canobolas at roughly . Between Wellington and Dubbo extensive flat areas are evident. north of Dubbo, the Talbragar River joins the Macquarie. The Talbragar is the most important downstream tributary. This river rises in mountainous country at the junction of the Great Dividing Range and the Liverpool Range. The country through which the Talbragar River runs is broad and flat, bordered by undulating hills that disperse as the river nears Dubbo. north of Dubbo, the river passes through flat plains flowing north-west through Narromine and Warren. A complex series of effluent creeks connect the Macquarie, Darling and Bogan Rivers. Macquarie Marshes lie at the end of the river channel proper. Near Carinda, the Macquarie is joined by Marthaguy Creek which drains an area and carries spill-over water from the Macquarie and Castlereagh Rivers during floods.