The Logan River (Yugambeh: Dugulumba

Course and features

thumb|left|[[Woodhill, Queensland|Woodhill, 2016]]

thumb|left|Logan Bridge below [[Tamrookum, Queensland|Tamrookum, 1903]]

thumb|left|Bridge construction on the Logan River, 1930

The river rises below Mount Ernest on the southern slopes of the Scenic Rim, part of the Great Dividing Range and forms in the Mount Barney National Park, near the QueenslandNew South Wales border, below Mount Lindesay. The river flows generally north by northeast, joined by eleven minor tributaries, before heading east and eventually emptying into Moreton Bay. Its principal tributaries are the Albert River which joins it just east of Beenleigh; Teviot Brook which begins at Mount Superbus and joins the Logan River at Cedar Pocket; and Burnett Creek which is subverted by the Maroon Dam west of Rathdowney. The river descends over its course. that comprise part of the Shield Volcano Group of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.

The river is crossed by the Mount Lindesay Highway near Rathdowney and at via Maclean's Bridge. The river is also crossed by the Pacific Motorway and the Old Pacific Highway south of . Tidal waters reach to just downstream of the Maclean's Bridge.

Mununjali (also known as Mananjahli, Manaldjahli and Manandjali) is a dialect of the Yugambeh language. The Mununjali language area includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Scenic Rim and Beaudesert Shire Councils.

In August 1826 Captain Patrick Logan was the first European to discover the river. Logan initially named the river the Darling River, but to avoid confusion, Governor Ralph Darling ordered the name be changed to honour its discoverer. A run at Bromelton was the first property along the river to be settled in 1842 by Hugh Henry Robertson. By 1850 the property had transferred hands to Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior. Rosa Campbell Praed, one of Queensland's first novelists spent time at the property and wrote about station life in detail in a 1902 book titled My Australian Girlhood.

For navigation purposes the river was surveyed in 1871 from its mouth upstream to McLean. The find was preceded by reports of sightings for several years which were met with scepticism because southern Queensland is well south of their natural distribution. as weekend traffic between Brisbane and the Gold Coast increased.

The worst flooding in the lower reaches of the river in the 20th century occurred during the 1974 Brisbane flood.

Water quality and conservation

thumb|Running Creek near Andrew Drynan Park at [[Running Creek, Queensland|Running Creek, 2016]]

The quality of the water in the Logan River is very turbid. Much of the environmental degradation has been caused by land clearing, the Bromelton Industrial Estate, nutrient run-off, and pumping wastewater directly from several wastewater treatment plants in and around the Logan River. In 2009, the Healthy Waterways Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program rated the River's freshwater area at a "D"; its Estuarine area was given an "F". Historically, cholera has been found in the Logan River from around 1977. Community projects in the Logan catchment area aim to improve the quality of the ecosystem. Competitions such as Carp-busters are aimed at reducing the number of carp and hence allowing native species of fish a better chance of survival.

See also

References