Avon River | |
Perennial river | |
Country | Australia |
---|---|
State | New South Wales |
Regions | Sydney Basin (IBRA), Southern Highlands, Macarthur |
Local government areas | Wollongong, Wollondilly |
Part of | Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment |
Source | Illawarra escarpment |
- location | west of Calderwood |
- elevation | 348 m (1,142 ft) |
Mouth | confluence with the Cordeaux River |
- location | near Wilton |
- elevation | 193 m (633 ft) |
Length | 32 km (20 mi) |
Reservoir | Lake Avon |
The Avon River, a perennial river of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Highlands and Macarthur districts of New South Wales, Australia.
The Avon River rises on the western slopes of the Illawarra escarpment, near Calderwood within the Wollongong local government area and flows generally north, reaching its confluence with the Cordeaux River, south of Wilton. The river descends 155 metres (509 ft) over its 32-kilometre (20 mi) course.
The river is impounded by Lake Avon, the largest of the four reservoirs within the Upper Nepean Scheme that supplies potable water for greater metropolitan Sydney. Located near Bargo, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-west of Sydney, construction of the dam wall on the Avon River commenced in 1921 and was completed in 1927. In 1963, the water supply was diverted to meet the increasing needs of the Illawarra region and now supplies all the Wollongong area.
The locality of Avon is defined as a suburb of the City of Wollongong and Wingecarribee Shire: "a locality within Metropolitan Catchment Area on the western side of Illawarra Range about 4km west of Wongawilli and about 5km north west of Avondale". At the 2016 census, it had no population.