The Bundara River (formerly known as the Bundara Mungee River and the Bundarah River), a

perennial river A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

of the North-East

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia covering (14%) of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: Ea ...

and

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

regions of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Location and features

The Bundara River rises east of

Mount Hotham Mount Hotham is a mountain located in the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, in the Australian state of Victoria. The mountain is located approximately north east of Melbourne, from Sydney, and from Adelaide by road. The nearest ...

and Mount Loch in the

Australian Alps The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion,

in the

Alpine National Park The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hi ...

at an elevation of , and flows into the Big River about north of Anglers Rest. The river flows generally to the east, travelling through the national park for most of its

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

. About north of Anglers Rest the

Omeo Highway Omeo Highway is a 163 kilometre rural highway in eastern Victoria, Australia, connecting Tallangatta on Lake Hume in north-east Victoria to Bairnsdale in East Gippsland, over parts of the Victorian Alps. Route Omeo Highway commences at the int ...

crosses over the river, and about north of this crossing it reaches its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

into the Big River at an elevation of . The Big River forms its confluences with the Cobungra River just south of this point to form the

Mitta Mitta River Mitta Mitta River, a perennial river and a direct tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Alpine district of Victoria, Australia. The name Mitta Mitta derives from the Aboriginal word ''mida-modoen ...

. The river descends over its course.

Tributaries

Key tributaries of the Bundara River include High Plains Creek, Waterfall Creek, and Tea Tree Creek. The main tributaries flow off the southern slopes of Mount Jim (), Mount Bundara () and Mount Cope (), and the hills to the east of the main ridge of the Australian Alps.

River health

The Bundara River and its tributaries are generally protected within the Alpine National Park. Most of the waterways in the Mitta Mitta basin are recognised as being in good to excellent condition. Extensive forest covers much of the catchment area. Despite some

land clearing Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About ...

and

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

damage to river banks, the aquatic habitat is generally very good. The Bundara River is noted as being particularly good for

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

fishing. The Bundara River is part of the North East Catchment Management Authority's Victorian River Health Program, aimed at achieving healthy rivers. In early 2003, large areas of forest around the Bundara River and its catchments were severely impacted by the massive Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires. These fires burnt through approximately of the area's

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant natural area, remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a wh ...

for close to two months. The damage resulting from the fires impacted river health for some time after the fires.

Gallery

Omeo Hwy crossing the Bundara River near Anglers Rest, Vic, jjron, 6.06.2009.jpg,

crossing the Bundara River near Anglers Rest 2003 Bushfires aftermath, Bundara River near Anglers Rest.jpg, Devastated bushland on the Bundara River near Anglers Rest resulting from the

2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires were a series of bushfires in 2003 that burnt in the Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The bushfire started with eighty-seven fires that were starte ...

References

External links