The Gold Coast Broadwater, also known as the Southport Broadwater or simply the Broadwater, is a large shallow

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

located in the ,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. Connected directly to the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

towards its southern end via the artificial

Gold Coast Seaway The Gold Coast Seaway or Southport Seaway is the main navigation entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Gold Coast Broadwater and southern Moreton Bay and is one of Australia's most significant coastal engineering projects. It is located at th ...

, which stabilised the formerly northward moving mouth of the

Nerang River The Nerang River is a perennial river in South East Queensland, Australia. Its drainage basin, catchment lies within the City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast Local government in Queensland, local government area and covers an area of . The river is app ...

, the estuary reaches from the locality of in the south, to the southern section of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

in the north, through which it is also connected to the sea. The Broadwater is separated from the ocean by

South Stradbroke Island South Stradbroke Island ( Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island is ...

north of the seaway and

Southport Spit The Southport Spit (officially known as The Spit) is a Spit (landform), spit and neighbourhood within the northern end of Main Beach, Queensland, Main Beach, City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a permanent sand spit that separates ...

to the south. The original body of water was a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

formed by water from the

entering the area behind the former

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Is ...

(now split in two). Part of the Broadwater is contained within the

Moreton Bay Marine Park The Moreton Bay Marine Park was established in 1993 to protect ecologically significant habitats in Moreton Bay. The marine park extends from Caloundra south to the southern tip of South Stradbroke Island. The marine park's border extends up to t ...

Location and features

The entrance of the Nerang River was at Main Beach in the late 19th century but by the 1980s had moved about northwards. The Seaway was completed in 1986 to stabilise the location of the Nerang River Entrance. Its construction has allowed greater tidal flows. This has created a larger tidal range within the Broadwater with lower low tides. Towards the northern end of the broadwater the Pimpama River enters. The broadwater is very large and contains lots of species of marine life. Gold Coast Ferries operates a number of services across the waterway. Curlew Island, a popular habitat for bird species including the Far Eastern curlew, emerged from the Broadwater over the last four decades. The Broadwater has undergone dramatic changes since the 1970s including the construction of an extensive number and network of artificial waterways that account for up to 90% of Australia's canal estates. Positioned in one of the fastest growing regions in the developed world, urbanisation surrounding the Broadwater is expected to continue. The region has important biodiversity values that have led to areas of the Broadwater listed as an international

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

finfish Fishery can mean either the Big business, enterprise of Animal husbandry#Aquaculture, raising or Fishing, harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (wikt:AKA, a.k.a., fishing grounds). ...

species. The Broadwater

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

includes a number of watercourses including the

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

, Coomera,

Pimpama Pimpama ( ) is a northern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The name is of Aboriginal origin. The suburb contains numerous schools with the first opening in the 1870s. A small farmi ...

and Nerang Rivers. Creeks such as the

Loders Loders is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies north-east of the town of Bridport. It is a linear village, sited in the valley of the small River Asker, between Waddon Hill and Boarsb ...

, Biggera and Behm and Wasp also flow into the estuary. The most common

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...

species in the body of water is '' Zostera muelleri'' which grows in the shallower parts. ''

Halophila ovalis ''Halophila ovalis'', commonly known as paddle weed, spoon grass or dugong grass, is a seagrass in the family Hydrocharitaceae. It is a small herbaceous plant that naturally occurs in sea beds and other saltwater environments in the Indo-Pacific ...

'' and ''

Halophila spinulosa ''Halophila'' is a genus of seagrasses in the Family (biology), family ''Hydrocharitaceae'', the tape-grasses. It was described as a genus in 1806. The number of its contained species, and its own placement in the order Alismatales, has evolved. ...

'' are also found in the deeper waters of the Broadwater.

History

Captain

Patrick Logan Captain Patrick Logan (baptised 15 November 1791 – 17 October 1830) was a Scottish army officer who was the commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement from 1826 until his death in 1830 at the hands of Aboriginal Australians. As he had b ...

was the first European to discover this southern entrance to Moreton Bay. In the early 1880s the first

Southport Pier Southport Pier is a pleasure pier in Southport, Merseyside, England. Opened in August 1860, it is the oldest iron pier in the country. Its length of makes it the second-longest in Great Britain, after Southend Pier. Although at one time span ...

was opened to the public. On 26 November 1925, the Jubilee Bridge opened to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, becoming the first bridge to be erected in the Broadwater area. The bridge provided direct access between Southport and Main Beach and offered an alternative to, and eventually replaced, the ferry services which had transported passengers from the jetty, in the vicinity of later day Barney Street, across the water at the point where the Nerang River meets the Broadwater. In 1966-1967, the Jubilee Bridge was replaced by the Gold Coast Bridge, colloquially known as the Sundale Bridge due to its proximity to the Sundale Shopping Centre. The two bridges were on different alignments and, for a period of time, both were in place until the demolition of the earlier bridge commenced. The Jubilee Bridge was on an east-west alignment commencing at Queen Street, Southport before ending in the vicinity of the Southport Yacht Club at Main Beach on the southern bank of the Nerang River. The Gold Coast Bridge was on a north-south alignment following the path of the Gold Coast Highway. The Gold Coast Bridge has since been joined by a bridge for light rail on its western side and a pedestrian bridge on its eastern side. Construction of the

was undertaken between 1984 and 1986. Plans for a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

terminal and resort on Wave Break Island were rejected by the Queensland Government in 2015. On the 2 January 2023 a

mid-air collision In aviation, a mid-air collision is an aviation accident, accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. The potential for a mid-air collision is increased by Aviation communication, miscommunication, mistrus ...

occurred between two helicopters undertaking tourist trips over the Broadwater.

Broadwaterway

CSIRO ScienceImage 7482 Highrise development at Southport Queensland

The Broadwaterway is a foreshoreway along the

foreshore The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats ...

s of the Gold Coast Broadwater. The Broadwaterway includes: * The Spit arm * the Marine Stadium, * western Spit foreshores (including Sea World, Fishing fleet,

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

Hotel, Marina Mirage, Versace Hotel, Water Police, Sea Scouts and the Southport Yacht Club) * Pelican Beach at Main Beach *

Southport Broadwater Parklands The Southport Broadwater Parklands is a large community park located in Southport, Queensland, Southport. It is designed for large community gatherings and families. The park has many different areas for children and barbecue areas for families ...

* Marine Parade and Harley Park Labrador * Broadwater Esplanades of Biggera Waters, Runaway Bay and Hollywell. * Paradise Point Broadwater Parklands Fisherman's Wharf was located on the site of the present-day Versace Hotel. A popular and regionally iconic hospitality and entertainment complex (known to locals as Fishos), Fisherman's Wharf opened in 1983 before closing in 1998.

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, The Broadwater, Queensland Geography of Gold Coast, Queensland Bays of Queensland Sports venues on the Gold Coast, Queensland Southport, Queensland Marinas in Australia

Location and features

History

Broadwaterway

See also

References

External links