THis River

This river currently call ‘Mersey’ has become entwined with my life as a constant yet evolving presence in my thoughts. It has sustained life and spirit in this region for millennia, shaping the land and the lives of the people who depend upon it. The river we know, the one we can see, is wide and placid. Subdued by dams and bridges it meanders through wide agricultural valleys. Yet beyond our view there is a river few of us know: A wild river running through deep gorges and forests.
 
This river is an embodiment of our society’s dependence on natural resources. It is part of a fundamental earth system that humans cannot exist without. I want to know this river more deeply, beyond the purely physical environment. I want to explore the essence of the river in the seen and unseen places, the sublime and the mundane.

River SEctions:
source to sea

As the concept of this project developed through out 2019 and into 2020, I had to think of ways to organise the images I was making. Wanting to make sure I experienced as much of the river as possible, without biasing myself to the more accessible areas.  While I considered a mathematical method of dividing the 147 kilometer rivers length into measurement based sections, I eventually decided on a geographical approach, reflecting the changing riverine environments as the river flows from the highlands to the sea. 

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Headwaters

The head waters of this river form in the highlands of Walls of Jerusalem National Park, the Mersey River is first mapped as it flows out of Lake Meston, feed from the many small streams and tarns across the western rim of the central Plateau. The river drops down from the plateau through a series of waterfalls over dolerite and fossil rich mudstone, carved out by glaciers and tectonic movements from the very formation of the island.

The river forms the boundary between the Walls of Jerusalem National park and Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, running adjacent to The Overland Track for a stretch before meandering away to the upland pastures of Wadley's and Lee's paddocks and yet more waterfalls before it meets the first of the hydroelectric impoundment, Lake Rowallan.

The river above Lake Rowallan, has very little human modification but evidence shows people have been living in this area since the last glacial retreat around eleven thousand years ago. ​

Lakes

The lakes of the Mersey Valley were formed in the late 1960’s and ‘70’s when the Tasmanian Hydroelectric Corporation began to build a major system of dams across both the Mersey and Forth Valleys. The Rowallan dam and power station and was the first to come on line. The lake was formed in a wide U-shaped glacial valley once known as Howells plains; the remnants of the former landscape can be seen in the distribution of dead trees that are exposed above the lakes surface. At low levels in winter the scene is vivid and disturbing. This dam forever changed the flow of the river downstream; permanently reducing it.

Between Lake Rowallan and Lake Parangana the Mersey Whitewater Reserve stands as a reminder of how this river once flowed, on request by kayak and rafting clubs water is released from the dam to emulate the wild flows of that once existed.
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Lake Parangana is much smaller that Rowallan and was formed in narrow gorge where the Fisher River joins the Mersey. At the dam, water from the Mersey catchment is diverted via a tunnel to the Lemonthyme PowerStation in the Forth Valley. Hydro Tasmanian now takes its environmental responsibilities for the river’s health very seriously, a consistent level of flow below Parangana is maintained. For many years there was around a ten-fold order of magnitude reduction from the naturally occurring flow.

Gorges

Below Parangana this river flows through a series of gorges, in this section the geological structure of the land strongly influences the river’s course. The river flows through formations of granite, limestone, and quartzite, it is forced to change direction by a full ninety degrees twice in this section as tectonic landforms impose their power. Then downstream the river has superimposed itself into an impossible canyon, the power of liquid water to erode solid rock is a natural and timeless wonder.  
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This section of river features in the diaries of G.A Robinson, on his quest to remove the palawa/pakana people from the mainland of Tasmania. Whether his intention was for good or ill, his actions resulted in a landscape robbed of its inhabitants for a time.
 
This is strangely the most inaccessible section of the rivers course, the gorges are interrupted by open valleys but few roads or walking track meet the river, to know this part of the river you have to be prepared to take to the Whitewater.

Low Lands

Below the gorges the river broadens, winding its way through many layers of alluvial sediment laid down through millennia of floods and high flows. This is where the river becomes embedded in the agricultural landscape of the region. The dairy farmers, tree and crop growers harvest water from the river to provide produce to the community and the nation.

In this section of the river, bridges span its banks in at least nine locations. As a result of major flood event most of these bridges have been replaced numerous times over the last century, now a series of uniform concrete pillars allow for movement between communities divided but this river.
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The name Mersey was bestowed on this river in 1826 by colonists expanding their holdings across the Northwest coast of Tasmania. There is a Mersey River in Northwest England and one in Canada too, the origin of the word Mersey is thought to mean ‘boundary river’ and in this section it is appropriate, the river is the boundary between the municipalities of Meander and Kentish and wells as Kentish and Latrobe.

Intertidal

​As the river passes the town of Latrobe the sea begins to influence its structure, a delta and estuary have formed as the water loses speed, salt helps deposit sediment forming the wide mudflats visible at low tides. A lot of human effort was, and continues to be employed to open the river to the sea for shipping. The remains of dredging ship are still visible near the river mouth, covered shellfish, and rust.

The river port allows people and produce to move in and out of Tasmanian, it is part of the national highway system. The spectacle of the big red ferry rotating in the river is enthralling to visitors and residents alike.
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As the river flows through this section and out into Bass Strait it is barely recognisable as the same wild river flowing over waterfalls and through cliff lined gorges. It is wide and slow, often murky and obscured by ships and trains. Finally upon reaching the mouth, the river can hardly be distinguished from the sea, waves roll up the river and sediment flows out, it is only during a flood event that we are reminded the river is strong and beyond our control.