Gudgenby River

The Gudgenby River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Location and features
Formed by the confluence of Bogong Creek and Middle Creek, the Gudgenby River rises within Namadgi National Park, below Yankee Hat and Mount Gudgenby, on the south-eastern slopes of the Brindabella Range in the south of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The river flows generally north and north-east, joined by nine tributaries, including the Naas River and Orroral River, before reaching its confluence with the Murrumbidgee River, near Tharwa. The river descends 422 m over its 35 km course.

The river catchment contains ecologically significant alpine wetlands.

In 2004, ACTEW announced that the creation of a large 159 GL reservoir by damming the Gudgenby River, below Mount Tennent, was one of three options being considered as part of the Future Water Options Project to provide improved reliability and increased supply of potable water for Canberra and the ACT. By 2005, the ACT Government decided that the creation of the Mount Tennent dam would not proceed, in favour of enlarging the Cotter Dam.

Climate
Due to its much higher elevation, the area has a significantly colder climate than Canberra. Gudgenby is where the record low of –14.6 °C for the Australian Capital Territory was held; this was also the lowest recorded temperature for anywhere in Australia outside of the alpine regions—narrowly outdoing Woolbrook. This is especially significant given the Gudgenby site only had twenty years of temperature record; from 1967 to 1988.