The Tod River is the only stream on

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

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 ...

with a reliable water flow. Its main tributary is Pillaworta Creek. The

Tod River Reservoir The Tod Reservoir is located on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, in the localities of Whites Flat, South Australia, Whites Flat and Koppio, South Australia, Koppio, 27 km north of Port Lincoln. It is situated on the Tod River, the onl ...

was built across the river between 1918 and 1922. The Tod River flows southeast into the lower

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe an ...

north of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...

. Its lower reach represents the boundary between

Poonindie __NOTOC__ Poonindie is a small township near Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The township is situated in the historic Country of the Nauo People (an Australian Indigenous community), though it is within the modern government ...

and

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

. The original

Barngarla The Barngarla, (historically also spelled as Parnkalla or Pangkala), are an Indigenous people of South Australia and the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula. Their language, Barngarla is a Yura language and part of a revival effo ...

name for Tod River was ''Ngalda Warda''. The river was named on 20 May 1839 by a group exploring

in the schooner ''Victoria'' after

Robert Tod The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, one of the exploration party. ''Victoria'' spent April and May 1839 surveying for land in the Spencer Gulf region.

References

Rivers of South Australia Eyre Peninsula {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub