| Bennett Brook | |
|---|---|
 Bennett Brook viewed from a footbridge inCaversham in August 2021 | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Western Australia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Gnangara Mound,Stormwater from surrounding urban area |
| • location | Whiteman Park |
| • coordinates | 31°49′05″S115°55′08″E / 31.818°S 115.919°E /-31.818; 115.919 |
| Mouth | Swan River |
• location | Border ofEden Hill andCaversham |
• coordinates | 31°53′38″S115°57′36″E / 31.894°S 115.960°E /-31.894; 115.960 |
| Length | 13 km (8.1 mi) |
| Basin size | 217 km2 (84 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 5.1 gigalitres |
Bennett Brook is astream that runs fromWhiteman Park to theSwan River in Western Australia.
Bennett Brook's catchment area covers 217 square kilometres (84 sq mi). Approximately half of the catchment area is covered byWhiteman Park and the Gnangara Pine Plantation. The rest of the catchment is urbanised, covering the suburbs ofBallajura,Beechboro,Bennett Springs,Kiara,Lockridge,Malaga,Morley andNoranda. The tributaries to the west are highly modified and partially underground. The tributaries to the north are mostly natural.[1][2]
Upstream areas only flow between August and November. Groundwater pumping from theGnangara Mound has made the flow lower than the natural flow. Downstream areas flow year round. Urbanisation has made the flow downstream higher than the natural flow, due to highersurface runoff from roads and houses.[1][2]
By the 1960s,Lew Whiteman, the owner of much of the land that makes up Whiteman Park today, built a dam across Bennett Brook and deepened a natural pool along the brook to form the Mussel Pool, named due to the naturally occurringfreshwater mussels. The area has since become a picnic spot. The dam prevented the seasonal migration of small fish, resulting in the areas upstream of the dam having no fish. Afish ladder was constructed in 1999, allowing thewestern minnow andwestern pygmy perch to reach upstream of the dam. The first fish ladder in Australia, it was designed by aMurdoch University zoologist and built by a team of people on theWork for the Dole program.[3][4][5]
From south to north:
Animals found in and around Bennett Brook include:
Bennett Brook is named after Matilda Bennett, the wife ofJohn Septimus Roe.[10]
Rivers ofWestern Australia | |
|---|---|
| Rivers of theGascoyne region | |
| Rivers of theGoldfields–Esperance region | |
| Rivers of theGreat Southern region | |
| Rivers of theKimberley region |
|
| Rivers of theMid West region | |
| Rivers of thePeel andPerth regions | |
| Rivers of thePilbara region | |
| Rivers of theSouth West region | |
| Rivers of theWheatbelt region | |
