The Hutt River

Brief Introduction

Winding through the northern part of Western Australia's farming region, the Hutt River and the areas that surround it includes a rich diversity of unique plants, and a variety of native animals. The Hutt also provides an important water supply for local farms.

More information

The Hutt is a beautiful and important river, but unfortunately it is in danger. Erosion, sedimentation and weed invasion are just some of the problems that threaten this river, which is why environmental groups like Greening Australia are thrilled that many farmers and families who live in the Hutt catchment area are doing what they can to protect this beautiful resource. Would you like to help too? Read on to find out how you can play a role in protecting this remarkable river.

General Geographic Information

The Hutt River is located approximately 75km north of the regional city of Geraldton in the sunny Mid-West region of Western Australia.

The Hutt River begins east of the North West Coastal Highway, between the towns of Northampton and Binnu and reaches the coast just south of Port Gregory via a small estuary. The river mouth only opens up into the ocean when there is substantial flow. Most of the land that the Hutt travels across is gently undulating - there are no mountains here, but it's far from flat!

The main channel of the Hutt is about 70 km long with a huge catchment area of 1240 square km - that's about one quarter of the entire area of Perth!

Tributaries are smaller streams or parts of the river that feed into the major river channel. The major tributary for the Hutt is Kennedy Creek. Yarder Gully and Swamp Gully are also very important tributaries as they contribute fresh water to the Hutt River.

Hutt River Catchment

A catchment is an area of land that catches water from rainfall (or snow) and feeds it into a waterway such as a creek, river system, lake, wetland or dam, or into groundwater.

Check out the catchment map here to find out the extent of the Hutt River Catchment.

Climate

The climate in the Midwest area is Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot dry summers. The average rainfall is 360 mm which falls on an average of 65 days per year mainly between May and August. Thunderstorms can produce flooding in some areas. Maximum temperatures are around 19 degrees in winter (not too cold) and 32 degrees in summer (not too hot) Sounds lovely, doesn't it?