Archer River

Archer
River
256px Archer River, Cape York
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	Far North Queensland
Tributaries
- left	Coen River
- right	The Dry River
Settlement	Aurukun
Source	McIlwraith Range
- location	north of Coen
- elevation	138 m (453 ft)
Mouth	Gulf of Carpentaria
- location	Archer Bay
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates
Length	268 km (167 mi)
Basin	13,820 km2 (5,336 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	222 m3/s (7,840 cu ft/s)
National park	Mungkan Kandju National Park
Location of Archer River mouth in Queensland

The Archer River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia.

Course and features

The headwaters of the river rise in the McIlwraith Range and flows west, it traverses tropical savanna plains and wetlands, flowing through Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary and Mungkan Kandju National Park, and enters the Archer Bay in the Gulf of Carpentaria on the western side of the peninsula near the town of Aurukun along with the Watson River and the Ward River.

The catchment area for the Archer River is 13,820 square kilometres (5,336 sq mi). During the wet season between November and April, the river floods, replenishing over a million hectares of wetlands. The Coen River is a tributary of the Archer River.

The river remains in a natural state with very little development and just one small dam that supplies water for the town of Coen. On 3 April 2009, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced the Archer River would be included under the Wild Rivers Act, 2005 (Qld). The declaration means the river's fragile ecosystems will be protected by allowing only sustainable activities within its catchment.

The river has an annual average discharge of per annum.

Flora and fauna

Much of the river is bordered by fig-dominated gallery rainforests which provide habitat for animals such as the white-tailed rat, spotted cuscus and palm cockatoo. Toothless catfish are found in the river.

A total of 45 species of fish have been found in the river, including the glassfish, barred grunter, silver Cobbler, Fly-specked hardyhead, mouth almighty, goby, barramundi, oxeye herring, eastern rainbowfish, bony bream, gulf saratoga, giant gudgeon, freshwater longtom and seven-spot archerfish.

History

The traditional owners of the area are the Wik peoples, Kandju and Wikampama peoples. The river was named in 1865 by Francis Lascelles Jardine and Alexander Jardine during an expedition through the area. They named the river after the Archer family of Grassmere in Rockhampton. The river had probably been named Dubbelde Ree by Willem Jansz in 1606 and later named Coen River by Jan Carstensz in 1623 and then named Peach River by Robert Logan Jack in 1879.

See also

• List of rivers of Queensland