Accommodation Food

Garden Back to Front Page

The Blackwood River is one of the longest rivers in Western Australia, stretching 300kms from Moordjarrup west of Dumbleyung and Wagin, all the way to the sea at Augusta. Only 600m of it winds past Ford House, Bridgetown. However, this frontage is very important to Ford House as it is one of only two titles in the entire Shire that own to the centre of the River, being on an old title predating 1901 (The year of Federation). The catchment of the Blackwood covers an area of over 2.8 million hectares, draining large agricultural areas with predominantly wheat or sheep production. It is salty as it passes Ford House (was about 3500ppm in 1970's) which makes it unuseable for irrigation. It has always been saline as it drains soils from the Zone of Ancient Drainage east of the Meckering Line. This land has been sodic for about 400 million years as it sits on the Archean Shield. The salinity has markedly increased since the late 1930s when much of the inland was cleared and opened up for sheep. The process was accelerated at that time during the soldier settler phase of the state’s development. During the peak of summer, the river adjacent to Ford House  may be as saline as 6500ppm. In winter, the waters often rise by about  1 to 2 metres and may very occasionally breach the banks by Ford House. In summer, flash flooding can create much more severe flooding. In February, 1983, the river rose by about 8 metres, surrounding Ford House up to its footings. Nannup was completely covered by the water at that time. The "hundred year" floods occurred in 1939, 1955 and 1982......is one on the way soon?