User:Fairv8/Light River (South Australia)

The River Light has its headwaters on the western slopes of the Tothill Range at the small township of Waterloo, part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and meanders southwesterly approximately 200km as the crow flies to empty in the Gulf of Saint Vincent. The Light River only has one major tributary, that of the Gilbert River, whose headwaters are only a few kilometres to the west over in the next wide and shallow valley. There are many small ephemeral creeks connecting the Light River that are all above the confluence of the Gilbert River in the hills, some are the Tothill, Julia, Hawker, Allen, and there are two Pine Creeks. As more farm dams have been built on the tributaries, the river now dries out during the summer and autumn months leaving only infrequent deep pools along channel. The Light River has many weirs along its length, but no dams to impede its flow. Above the St. Johns bridge the flow ceases even in the wetter months except for a short time after heavy local rains where it can rise up to two metres in depth in places.

Three main highways cross the Light River, the largest of which is the Port Wakefield Highway, a four-lane section of National Highway One (A1) gently rising over just south of the township of Lower Light, which is not surprisingly is in the lower section of the river on the very flat flood plains. This is the main connecting road to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The other busy highway is the state operated two-lane Main North Road (A32) that eventually heads to Sydney, crossing at Linwood, a locality with only a few farmhouses situated at the bottom of the gently sloping river valley. Least busy of the three highways is another two-lane State highway, the Thiele Highway (B81) named after Colin Thiele, children’s educator and author. Whilst it services Kapunda and Eudunda, it is also an alternative route to the Riverland via Morgan and was used when the Blanchetown Bridge was rebuilt in the 1990’s.