Thomson River (Queensland)

The Thomson River is situated in western Queensland, Australia, and forms part of the Lake Eyre Basin. The river was named by the explorer, Edmund Kennedy, in the 1840s.

The northernmost headwaters of the river begin as Torrens Creek, inland from Charters Towers. The watercourse becomes the Thomson just north of the town of Muttaburra, where the channels of Landsborough Creek, Towerhill Creek and Cornish Creek meet. The river continues in a south westerly direction, passing the towns of Longreach, Stonehenge and Jundah, before joining with the Barcoo River north of Windorah to form Cooper Creek. [http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld/brochures/cooper/map.shtml] Apparently, this is the only place in the world where the confluence of two rivers form a creek.

As with all of the rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin, the waters of the Thomson never reach the sea, and instead either evaporate, or, in exceptional flood, empty into Lake Eyre. Floods are not uncommon along the river, and, due to the flat nature of the country traversed, the river can then become many kilometres wide, causing major communication difficulties. For much of the time, however, the river does not flow, and becomes a line of billabongs. [ [http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld/brochures/cooper/cooper.shtml Flood Warning System for the Thompson & Barcoo Rivers & Cooper Creek ] ]

The area through which the river flows is semi arid blacksoil plains. The main industries of the area are sheep and beef cattle.

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