yarra river

The Yarra River, also known as Birrarung, is a river in southern Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches. From its source in the Yarra Ranges, it flows 242km west through the Yarra Valley which opens out into plains as it winds its way through Greater Melbourne before emptying into Hobsons Bay in northernmost Port Phillip. The river was a major food source and meeting place for the Indigenous Australians, the Wurundjeri people until actions by early European settlers such as land clearing in the mid 1800's, forced the Wurundjeri people in neighbouring territories, away from the river.
Originally called Birrarung by the Wurundjeri people, the current name was mistranslated from another Wurundjeri term; Yarra Yarra. After European settlement, throughout the Victorian gold rush, it was mined for gold and in many places its course was modified or disrupted, such as the Pound Bend Tunnel in Warrandyte and Coode Island excavations in West Melbourne, which ultimately led to the destruction of the marshlands at the confluence of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers.
Today, the mouth and lower reaches of the river including Swanston and Appleton Docks are used for container shipping by the Port of Melbourne, the busiest on the continent. To a lesser extent they are used for transport, both for recreational boating and ferries. The city reach which is inaccessible to larger watercraft has seen growing use for both transport and recreational use (including kayaking, canoeing, rowing and swimming) in recent years however recreational use of the river is threatened by high levels of pollution in its lower stretches. The upper reaches remain a relatively healthy ecosystem. Prior to European settlement, the river relied on regular flooding to replenish silts and soils on its banks, however this threatened settlements along the river and Melbourne itself and the Upper Yarra Dam was subsequently constructed. The Moomba festival is held on the banks of the river each year.