The Sandover River is an
ephemeral river in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
of
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 ...
located in northeast
Central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...
. It is the only major tributary of the
Georgina River that does not rise in
western 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 ...
. Instead it flows from the eastern
Macdonnell Ranges
The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte language, Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australia ...
, northward to enter the Georgina near
Urandangi. The highest point in the catchment is Bald Hill at , but it enters the Georgina at altitudes below .
Course and features
The ephemeral Sandover River is usually dry except when the northern monsoon moves unusually far south into the continent. The average annual rainfall in the
catchment area is typically around but varies greatly: in dry years like 1928 the total may be as low as , but in very wet years like 1974, 2000, 2001 and 2010, it can be as high as . Most of this rain falls in the summer: between December and March monthly totals have on several occasions exceeded the mean annual rainfall. Flows in the Sandover often fail to reach the Georgina, instead drying out in waterholes well west of Urandangie. However, in very wet periods, such as 1920–1921, 1973-1977 and 1999–2001, water from the Sandover may not only reach the Georgina, but actually flow (via a circuitous route) into
Lake Eyre in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
.
The river is reported as passing through the localities of
Costello and
Sandover. Both the
Sandover Highway and the
Sandover Stock Route are named after the river because their respective alignment follow that of the river.
History
The river was named in 1878 after
William Sandover, the then President of the
Legislative Council of South Australia, reportedly by the explorer and botanist.
Charles Winnecke.
See also
*
List of rivers of Northern Territory
*
Sandover Highway
References
External links
*
*
*
Sandover
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