| Cooks River | |
|---|---|
 Cooks River nearSydney Airport | |
| Native name | Goolay'yari (Dharuk) (Cadigal) |
| Location | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | New South Wales |
| Region | Sydney basin (IBRA),Inner West |
| City | Sydney |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Graf Park |
| • location | Yagoona |
| Mouth | Botany Bay |
• location | Kyeemagh |
• coordinates | 33°56′57″S151°10′06″E / 33.94917°S 151.16833°E /-33.94917; 151.16833 |
| Length | 23 km (14 mi) |
| Basin size | 100 km2 (39 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Botany Bay |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Cup and Saucer Creek,Alexandra Canal |
| • right | Coxs Creek,Wolli Creek |
TheCooks River, a semi-maturetide-dominateddrowned valley estuary,[1] is atributary ofBotany Bay, located in southernSydney,New South Wales, Australia.
The course of the 23-kilometre-long (14 mi) urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various developments along its shore. It serves as part of astormwater system for the 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) of its watershed, and many of the original streams running into it have been turned into concrete lined channels. The tidal sections support significant areas ofmangrove ecosystems and are used for recreational activities.
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The river begins at Graf Park,Yagoona, then flows in a roughly north-easterly direction toChullora. It reaches its northernmost point atStrathfield, where it leads into aconcrete open canal, no more than one metre wide and thirty centimetres deep. It then heads towards the south-east. Where Cooks River runs through Strathfield Golf Course, the concrete lining has been partly removed. Here the plants have returned and have created an environment where the water is filtered and runs clean, and where wildlife has returned. One section here is called the Chain of Ponds.
AtBelfield it joins with theCox Creek Channel and flows in an easterly direction. The canal widens and deepens as it picks up stormwater from surrounding suburbs, such asCampsie and becomes influenced by tidal action.
AtCanterbury, it is joined byCup and Saucer Creek. Industrial areas line the Cooks River at Canterbury. In the past, factories discharged their waste directly into the water.
Thevalley becomes more pronounced as the river reachesTempe, where it is joined byWolli Creek and theAlexandra Canal. ThePrinces Highway crosses the Cooks River and links Tempe to the suburb ofWolli Creek. Also here is the low-lyingFatima Island, which is submerged at high tide.
The course of the final south-flowing section of river is entirely artificial. The river formerly flowed, via marshes, on a meandering course across the present site ofSydney Airport to meet Mill Stream and enterBotany Bay from the northern end of the bay. The boundary between theParish of Botany and theParish of St George remains at the former mouth of Cooks River. This part of the river course was altered to accommodate the expanding Sydney Airport. Cooks River now connects withBotany Bay atKyeemagh.
The corridor of land beside the river is a conduit for many services along large parts of its length including electricity, high-voltage lines, a high-pressure oil pipe owned byShell, and high-volume sewage pipes. Many of the lower-lying areas have been filled and are parks and sports grounds. In spite of this the river and adjacent lands are being recognised for their beauty, history, amenity and environmental value, if not also for potential for improvements. The walkway andcycleway beside much of the river is part of the path connectingSydney Olympic Park with Botany Bay.
Care and control of the river is shared between manylocal councils and the New South Wales Government through agencies such as the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority, theDepartment of Planning & Environment andSydney Water.
The river also has a number of community-based organisations which assist its maintenance, in particular the Cooks River Valley Association (CRVA). The CRVA grew from The Cooks River Improvement League, founded in 1925, which had published a book entitled "Our Ocean to Ocean Opportunity". The League recommended cleaning up the river by developing a canal system and removing of the footings of Tempe Dam, proposal which had been made originally by engineer H B Henson, in 1896.
In 2010 the Cup and Saucer Wetlands were built in Canterbury to create a natural environment for the native wildlife and fauna.[2]
Selected areas of the Cooks River which is lined with concrete will be replaced in 2013 and 2014 with a more natural bank with sandstone rocks and indigenous planting.[3]
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The Cooks River has a catchment area of 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi), within the metropolitan areas of Sydney enclosed by urban environments and extensive recreational areas. Over 400,000 people live in this area and there are over 100,000 commercial and industrial premises. The river has typical water catchment management problems characteristic of heavily urbanised areas, including:
TheCooks River Alliance is a partnership between councils in the Cooks River Catchment. It works with the local communities to restore the health of the river. The Alliance Board is made up of one councillor from each member council. The members of the Cooks River Alliance are:Bayside,Canterbury-Bankstown,City of Sydney,Inner West andStrathfield. The Alliance combines and builds resources, experience, knowledge and skills within councils and communities, to work on complex environmental challenges. Community Representatives will have the opportunity to contribute to the direction of the Alliance, and provide local resident perspectives.
Water quality testing conducted by the Water Research Centre found quantities of pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals at levels similar to untreated sewage.[4] A very old and broken sewerage system has been blamed for the contaminants which included soaps, insecticides, caffeine and anticonvulsants.[4]
A group of local Councils fund the project named Riverlife, which trains tour guides and organises interpretive walking and cycling tours of the "river" most weekends.[5]
In 2022, educator and YouTuberBeau Miles attempted to paddle a kayak down the full length of the Cooks River, producing a documentary of the journey to highlight the poor condition of the river, which he called the "sickest urban river in Australia".[6]
Before European Settlement, theIndigenous Australian population used the river byfishing and gathering shellfish. This had little effect on the river's naturalecology as sustainable practices were adhered to. It is generally thought that four different clans, each speaking a distinct dialect of the Darug language, inhabited the area surrounding the river. TheBediagal clan occupied the area on the southern side of the river. whilst on the northern side, it is generally thought that the Gameygal clan lived between the mouth of the Cooks River and the ocean. Further west, the river was used by theCadigal people (whose country extended north up to Port Jackson and took in the area where modern-day Sydney is now located). Further west still and along the upper reaches of the river, the country was occupied by the Wangal people.
In 1770,Captain Cook sailed intoBotany Bay and made the first written description of the river as follows: "I found a very fine stream of fresh water on the north side in the first sandy cove within the island before which a ship might lay land-locked and wood for fuel may be got everywhere."[7] The existence of the river appeared to make settlement a possibility; however, when theFirst Fleet arrived the river and valley was regarded as unsuitable. CaptainJohn Hunter and Lieutenant Bradley both mentioned the shallowness of the water and largeswamp areas.
The first land grants along the river tended to be fairly large and used mostly forgrazing andtimber with some fishing and lime burning at Botany Bay.Governor Macquarie makes reference to a slender bridge in his 1810diary, adding that "the soil is bad and neither good for tillage or pasturage". Nevertheless, some farmers did find they could till the land and settlement along the river spread, and roads and crossings were made in several places.
In the 1830s adam was built across the river; however, this did not provide a clean water supply and the structure itself began to damage the river's ecology by preventing tidal flushing of deposited urban silt. A second dam was built to serve asugar mill at the new village ofCanterbury Vale. The location took advantage of the water supply andbarge transport. The mill closed in 1855; however, other polluting industries were later to follow includingwool washes,tanneries andboiling down works. Despite the increasingly doubtful quality of the water, the river remained a popular place in the late nineteenth century forboating,picnics andswimming. In 1894, artistSydney Long painted an idyllic scene of boys swimming in the Cook's River, entitledBy Tranquil Waters, which was so well received that it was bought by the Trustees of theArt Gallery of New South Wales.[8][9] By the 1880s tree clearing resulted inerosion,silting and expansion ofreed beds, blocking river flow.
On the weekend of 25–27 May 1889, 425 millimetres (16.7 in) of raininundated all the low-lying land. At the height of the flood, the top of the Sugarworks Dam was covered by 3 metres (10 ft) of water.[10][11] Authorities responded to the extensive damage and loss of animals by removing the dams and weirs. A proposed series of canals connecting the river with Sydney Harbour was not commenced. A sewage farm operated near the mouth of the river from 1889 to 1916. A railway was used in both the construction of mains and filtration buildings, as well as in the day-to-day operation, moving screened solids throughout the farm.[12]
Concreting of the river banks commenced in the 1930s and the Cooks River Improvement Act of 1946 confirmed the policy of the tidying up of an undisciplined stream within neatcement boundaries. Between 1947 and 1953, engineers diverted the originalriver mouth to the west ofSydney Airport to accommodate new runways.[13]
Initiatives from 1976 onwards have attempted to preserve and return the natural features of the river system with tree planting, pollution traps andlandscaping.Footpaths and a cycle track were built to increase recreational use of the river. The NSW State Government committedA$2.9 million to the restoration of the sheet piling on the banks of the river.[5] In November 2007 the FederalAustralian Labor Party, then in opposition, made an announcement of A$2 million for environmental projects on the Cooks River.[14]
In 2009, Strathfield Council established theCooks River Fun Run. This event is held annually around June or July each year. The event starts at Freshwater Park Strathfield, with a 5 km and 10 km run, a 5 km walk and 2 km kids' run.
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