The Rubicon River, an inland
perennial river
A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the ab ...
of the
Goulburn
Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...
Broken catchment, part of the
Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower
South Eastern Highlands bioregion
A bioregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to use th ...
and
Northern Country/North Central regions of the
Australian state of
Victoria. The headwaters of the Rubicon River rise on the western slopes of the
Victorian Alps
The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps (the othe ...
and descend to flow into the
Goulburn River
The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victo ...
.
Location and features
The Rubicon River rises from the
Great Dividing Range below the Blue Range east of , and flows northwest, fueled by runoff from the Blue and Cerberean Ranges, joined by the
Royston River
The Royston River, an inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower South Eastern Highlands bioregion and Northern Country/North Central regions of the Australian state of ...
and one minor tributary, before reaching its
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem); ...
with the Goulburn River, west of the town of . The river descends over 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 ...
.
[
The Rubicon Hydroelectric Scheme, a small run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme, is located at the mouth of the Royston River. The Rubicon River is impounded by a concrete ]arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vau ...
dam diverts water into the Rubicon aqueduct to the site of the Royston Power Station, where it collects water diverted from the Royston River. Water then travels a further to the Rubicon Power Station forebay. The Rubicon Power Station has two horizontal single-jet Pelton wheel generators. Further power stations are located at the Lower Rubicon Power Station, some down-river and at the Rubicon Falls Power Station. Established in 1924, the Scheme is on the Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...
.
Etymology
The river was at first probably called Rubicon Creek. The naming of the river first appeared on Thomas Ham's Map of Australia Felix in 1847, and was listed by Wells in 1848. The name of the river is derived from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
word ''rubico'', a reddish river in central Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, perhaps the modern Fiumicino or Pisciatello, at the border of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy.[
]
See also
* List of rivers of Victoria
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of Victoria (Australia)
Goulburn Broken catchment
Rivers of Hume (region)
Tributaries of the Goulburn River