Snowy River

Description

The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australias highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Alpine National Park and the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into Bass Strait. While the rivers course and surroundings have remained almost entirely unchanged, the majority of it being protected by the Snowy River National Park, its flow was drastically reduced in the mid 20th century, to less than 1% (as measured at Jindabyne), after the construction of four large dams (Guthega, Island Bend, Eucumbene, and Jindabyne) and many smaller diversion structures in its headwaters in New South Wales, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The river has been immortalised in cultural folklore through the poem The Man from Snowy River, written by Banjo Paterson in 1890, which formed the basis of many subsequent works in film, TV and music theatre.