Yea River

Yea
Pipeline crossing the Yea River at Glenburn
Location of the Yea River mouth in Victoria
Etymology	In honour of Colonel Lacy Walter Yea
Native name	Kayigai (Daungwurrung)
Location
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Region	South Eastern Highlands bioregion (IBRA), Northern Country/North Central
LGA	Murrindindi
Towns	Toolangi, Castella, Glenburn, Yea
Physical characteristics
Source	Great Dividing Range
• location	below Mount Tanglefoot
• coordinates	37°19′56″S 145°28′27″E
• elevation	566 m (1,857 ft)
Mouth	confluence with the Goulburn River
• location	northwest of Yea
• coordinates	37°30′53″S 145°31′10″E
• elevation	162 m (531 ft)
Length	74 km (46 mi)
Basin features
River system	Goulburn Broken catchment, Murray-Darling basin
Tributaries
• left	Captain Creek, Rocky Creek (Victoria), Rellimeiggam Creek, Ti Tree Creek
• right	Katy Creek, Murrindindi River
Nature reserve	Murrindindi River Scenic Reserve

The Yea River, an inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower South Eastern Highlands bioregion and Northern Country/North Central regions of the Australian state of Victoria.

Location and features

Yea River Conservation Reserve Jan 2020

The Yea River rises in the Toolangi State Forest north-east of Toolangi and northwest of Mount Tanglefoot, part of the Great Dividing Range. The river generally flows in a northerly direction, generally aligned with the Melba Highway which crosses the river in its lower reaches. The river is joined by six tributaries including the Murrindindi River, flows east and north of the town of Yea before reaching its confluence with the Goulburn River, near Ghin Ghin Bridge. The river descends 403 metres (1,322 ft) over its 74-kilometre (46 mi) course.

The river is also crossed by the Goulburn Valley Highway, east of Yea.

Etymology

The suspected Aboriginal Taungurung language name for the river is Kayigai, with no clearly defined meaning. A surveyor's map of c. 1860 gives Kayigai or Muddy Creek, so it is likely that was the Aboriginal name of the river.

The river was called Muddy Creek in 1824 by explorers Hume and Hovell because of its muddy banks. The river was renamed when or soon after the town of Muddy Creek was renamed Yea. The river, like the town is named in honour of Colonel Lacy Walter Yea – a British Army colonel killed during the Crimean War in 1855, the year that Yea was founded.

See also

• List of rivers of Australia § Victoria