Ross River (Queensland)

The river rises in the Hervey Range below Pepper Pot Mountain and flows generally north through Lake Ross, across a flat coastal plain and east around into Townsville city. The Ross River flows across the Townsville suburbs of , , , , , and . The river is joined by three minor tributaries including Ross Creek, before reaching its mouth south east of Townsville. This area is currently being developed into a marina precinct. Flow rates in the river are controlled by the Ross River Dam, the largest dam in the catchment. There are seven crossings over the river and three weirs exist along the river. The river has a catchment area of of which an area of is composed of estuarine wetlands. ==Ross River Parkway==

The Ross River Parkway is a series of parks, community facilities and pedestrian bridges which stretch from The Vickers Bridge (formerly the Twin Cities Bridge), Douglas to Rooney's Bridge, Railway Estate which are interlinked by more than of shared use pathways. The parkway is used for recreation by many people who exercise or play in the parkland or along the network of paths, but was also designed to provide a safe network of paths to link the Townsville central business district to outlying suburbs. The parkway was developed over a series of years with funding from the Townsville City Council and Queensland Government and linked a series of existing parks, paths and bridges together. Notable facilities in the Ross River Parkway include Riverway, Tony Ireland Stadium, Riverside Lodge, Rossiter Park, The Palmetum, Aplin's Weir Rotary Park, Bicentennial Park and Black, Gleeson's and Aplin's Weirs. ==Weirs==

Black Weir Black Weir, formerly Black School Weir, is the most upstream weir of those on Ross River. Built in the early 1930s, Black Weir is a hollow buttress weir with an ogee shaped face on the downstream side, a sloped face on the upstream face and stone pitched abutments. The weir's name is derived from the name of Black School that abutted Ross River near the location of weir when it was constructed. Following damage to the weir due to flooding, the weir underwent major renovations in 1934. These renovations included the addition of a second pump well, the addition of further buttresses and the underpinning of the original structure. It took until 1936 to fill the reservoir behind the weir, but only provided a few years water supply. During World War II the large influxes of population as a result of Townsville's heavy military presence necessitated the provision of more water. In 1940 a galvanized iron wall was erected atop Black Weir to provide additional storage capacity to supplement the town's water supply. This continued for many years in order to provide additional water which could be pumped from the weir. Gleeson's Weir Gleeson's Weir crosses the Ross River between the Townsville suburbs of Cranbrook and Douglas. It was the first built of three weirs in the Ross River. Built downstream of Gleeson's Farm, its namesake, the weir was completed in 1908 as part of the damming process to secure and stabilise water supply for local residents. The downstream slope of Aplin's Weir has in recent years deteriorated and much of the concrete slope has collapsed exposing the buttresses. The weir received a significant upgrade in 2011(??). In the late 1990s a bridge connecting the suburbs of Mundingburra and Annandale was built, using the footings of Aplin's Weir for support. In February 2019 the bridge was swept away in floods waters. This was caused by too much water coming out of the Ross River Dam due to 1 in a 100-year rain. The area of water stored between Gleeson's Weir and Aplin's Weir is primarily used for recreational activities with the Townsville & JCU Rowing Club, a dragon boat club, kayakers and stand up paddle-boarders all using the river. This section of the river is used for local rowing regattas, especially the 1000m racing course above the Barton bridge. Every year the Townsville Open Water Association holds the Liz Birch memorial King and Queen of the river swim. This is a swim that starts at Aplins weir and proceeds to the Barton bridge and back to Rossiter park pontoon. The oldest person to undertake this swim is 79-year-old Thelma Burke. Aquatic weed issues in the river in recent years seem to have prevented this event from occurring as regularly as in the past (at least in this location). ==Ross River fever==

Ross River fever is a serious, though generally not life-threatening, tropical disease caused by infection by the Ross River virus, a mosquito-borne alphavirus. In 1959, an Aedes vigilax mosquito sampled from the banks of the Ross River was used to isolate the virus. The virus and fever were named after Ross River. However, Ross River fever is not isolated to the Ross River and surrounding areas. There have been major outbreaks of the disease in all Australian states through mosquito-borne infection with Ross River virus. ==Ecology==

The Ross River has two distinctly different ecosystems. Above the Aplin's Weir is a freshwater environment, and below the weir there is a tidal brackish/saltwater environment. Freshwater crocodiles can be found above Aplin's Weir, whilst Saltwater crocodiles live in the tidal area downstream ==See also==