Coxs River

Coxs River at Mount Cookem

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Coxs River is a river in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales. It flows through the Blue Mountains.

Description

The Coxs River rises northwest of Lithgow at Wolgan Gap and flows south into the Kanangra - Boyd National Park. There he spent his run to the east and empties into Lake Burragorang, a large reservoir, which is caused by the damming of the Warragamba River. This reservoir supplies most of the drinking water for Sydney.

History

For Aboriginal people who lived for thousands of years in this area before the white settlers came, was the valley of the Coxs River is one of two corridors in which they could cross the Blue Mountains. The other was the Bilpin Ridge, where now runs the Bells Line of Roads ( road from Lithgow to Richmond ). The valley of the Coxs River offered the simplest way of crossing the mountains, but the white settlers did not know this, and so the Blue Mountains were a seemingly insurmountable barrier for them.

A former inmate, Jon Wilson, was probably the first European to cross the Blue Mountains. Wilson came up with the first fleet of convicts to Australia in 1788 and was released in 1792. He then went immediately into the wilderness, lived with the Aborigines and even acted as a mediator between them and the settlers. In 1797 he returned to Sydney and said he had researched about a radius of 100 km around Sydney, and beyond the mountains. His observations and descriptions were very accurate in general, and it is quite possible that he - had crossed the Blue Mountains through the valley of the Coxs River - performed by the Aborigines.

On 24 June 1815, the name ' Coxs River ' was first mentioned in historical records in Australia. There you wrote:

The junction of two streams thesis a very handsome river, now called by the Governor " Cox 's River " which takes its course ( ... ) and empties Itself into the River Nepean (...). ( The confluence of the two streams forms a very considerable river, which was now called by Governor " Cox's River," takes its course through (...) and flows into the Nepean River ( ...))

The Nepean River then forms the Hawkesbury River and ends at Broken Bay into the Pacific. Governor Macquarie named both the Coxs River and the Coxs Pass to William Cox (1764-1837), British officer, road builders and architects.

Pollution

Since 2008 there are complaints about the water quality at the headwaters of the Coxs River. The investigations of the Blue Mountains Conservation Society revealed that this part of the river high heavy metal concentrations exhibited (eg, zinc, copper and manganese), as well as 125 times more sulfates than the surrounding streams, and an oxygen content of only 5% of the necessary for the fish value. The pH value was compared with the surrounding streams about 1000-fold increases (ie, the pH differed from the neutral value of 7 is about 1000 times further down - in the acidic range - than with the surrounding streams, translator's note ) and the river was about 80 times as salty as it should be. The Sydney Catchment Authority confirmed that the readings were correct, however, pointed out that the water quality in the lower reaches would be better, the further it flows into the Lake Burragorang approached. The Department of Environment and Climate Change ( Environment Ministry ) had stated that the contamination probably power through the Wallerawang Station, a power plant of Delta Electricity at Wallerawang Reservoir, is caused, which had to use the river water due to the prevailing drought several times. Delta Electricity stated that they would comply with the conditions of the operating license.

2009 reported Dr. Ian Wright of the University of Western Sydney, that the water that flowed into the Coxs River, several times as much copper, boron and other metals contained as above the power station measured. High arsenic concentrations were measured below the power plant, but further downstream, these substances were further diluted and you did not suppose that they pose a threat to humans. The Blue Mountains Conservation Society complained with support from the Environment Defenders Office in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and claimed that Delta Electricity the Coxs River polluted. The Society wanted to check also the New South Wales established practice of environmental licenses. The Chairman of the Society, Tara Cameron, said:

These are just license_en license_en to pollute. They are just Allowing the status quo and making people feel good without Actually protecting the environment. ( These licenses are only pollution permits., You only write the status quo firmly and ensure that people feel good without actually doing something for the environment. )

The journalists Ben Cubby and Erik Jensen showed that the government knew about two years from the pollution.

Activities

• Trail from Katoomba after Mittagong
• Six Foot Track
• Camping
• Megalong Valley

Access

• The access to the river bank by car is possible in many places of the river. In Hartley, there are several places. Near the Lake Burragorang the access is no longer possible.
• Hiking is the most popular type of access to the Coxs River. There are many trails in good condition, follow the most interesting sections of the river. One of the most famous is the Six Foot Trail
• Horseback riding is another popular way to explore the Coxs River. In the Megalong Valley, there are several providers of day and night rides.