Moyne River

Moyne
River
The wharves and harbour on the Moyne River at Port Fairy
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Regions	Victorian Midlands (IBRA), Western District
Local government area	Moyne Shire
Part of	Glenelg Hopkins catchment
Tributaries
- left	Gully Creek
- right	Back Creek (Moyne Shire, Victoria)
Town	Port Fairy
Landmark	Griffiths Island
Source
- location	near Stonefield
- elevation	189 m (620 ft)
Mouth	Port Fairy Bay, Bass Strait
- location	Port Fairy
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	38°23′18″S 142°15′3″E / 38.38833°S 142.25083°E / -38.38833; 142.25083Coordinates: 38°23′18″S 142°15′3″E / 38.38833°S 142.25083°E / -38.38833; 142.25083
Length	82 km (51 mi)
Basin	797 km2 (308 sq mi)
Waterfall	Moyne Falls
Lake	Belfast Lough
Location of the Moyne River mouth in Victoria

The Moyne River, a perennial river of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia.

The Moyne River rises near Stonefield, from the edge of the lava flows west-southwest of Penshurst. The river flows generally south, joined by two minor tributaries, and spilling into the Belfast Lough and then reaching its mouth and emptying into Port Fairy Bay in the Bass Strait near Port Fairy. The river descends 190 metres (620 ft) over its 82-kilometre (51 mi) course.

The mouth of the river has been significantly altered. The river originally spilled into the Bass Strait south of the town of Port Fairy through a series of narrow channels leading westward from the site of the present–day mouth. At that stage, the southern outlet of the Moyne, the Back Passage, was narrow and the opening to the sea was often too rough for boats to leave or enter the port; the main eastern outlet was blocked by a shallow sand bar. These navigational impediments led to the construction of a jetty from Flagstaff Hill and a boulder wall breakwater between Griffiths Island and Rabbit Island. Training walls constructed in the 1870s, curve from the northern part of Griffiths Island through the sand bar. These structures rapidly led to the accumulation of large amounts of sand on the north coast of Griffiths Island and back shore erosion north of the breakwaters. A protective stone wall was added in 1911.