- The Snowy River is also the name of a river in the South Island of New Zealand.
| Snowy River | |
|---|---|
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| Origin | Australian Alps |
| Mouth | Marlo |
| Basin countries | Australia |
The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. The Snowy River drains the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. The main branch rises on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest peak. The main headwaters, the Snowy, the Eucumbene River and the Thredbo River (formerly known as the Crackenback River) meet near Jindabyne and wind southwards through inaccessible country, including the Snowy River National Park, eventually reaching the sea at Marlo, near Orbost, Victoria. In New South Wales, the river runs through the Snowy River Shire. The Snowy River originally had a huge flow from the spring snow-melt which flowed directly into the sea. In the 1950s, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a network of dams was built to collect and divert 99% of the Snowy River's flow through the mountains, to provide more water to the Murray River and Murrumbidgee River for irrigation and to generate electricity. During the 1990s the low level of water in the Snowy River was a major environmental concern in Victoria, with a political campaign to increase the water from one per cent to 28 per cent of its original flow from the dam at Jindabyne. An independent candidate from the East Gippsland district, Craig Ingram, was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1999, re-elected in 2002 and 2006, on a platform to increase the flow of water in the Snowy River. The rugged beauty of the Snowy River was immortalised in the 'Banjo' Paterson poem The Man from Snowy River, first published in 1890. The Snowy River has also been immortalised in a 1920 The Man from Snowy River silent film, as well as in the better-known 1982 film The Man from Snowy River and its 1988 sequel film The Man from Snowy River II (US title: "Return to Snowy River" — UK title: "The Untamed"), as well as in the The Man from Snowy River (TV series) and The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, all of which were based on the Banjo Paterson's poem.
