Arabic version: شلالات فيكتوريا تتدفق بقوة بعد أمطار أغسطس القياسية
According to ABC News, record-breaking August rainfall across Victoria has brought more than 100 named and documented waterfalls into strong flow, drawing reports and photographs from the Southern Grampians, Otway Ranges, South Gippsland and the Victorian high country.
Federation University professor of water resources engineering Andrew Barton said the display was likely to be temporary. Good rainfall and inflows have lifted reservoirs, creeks and rivers, but a forecast strong El Niño could bring drier conditions. He expects waterfalls to continue flowing to some extent until at least October, while November is likely to see the countryside begin drying out and reduce flows feeding the falls.
Victoria’s waterfalls vary widely in scale and setting. Undiscovered Victoria has catalogued 50 of the state’s more than 100 named and documented falls accessible by walking track. Co-author and publisher Jay Dillon said their attraction lies in the range of waterfall types and environments, as well as the spaces and nooks encountered on the journey.
Among Dillon’s favourites is MacKenzie Falls in Grampians/Gariwerd National Park, the state’s largest waterfall by water volume, with a drop of about 35 metres. Lal Lal Falls, near Ballarat, drops 30 metres over volcanic basalt into a gorge, while Agnes Falls in South Gippsland cascades nearly 60 metres into a gorge.
Other highlighted destinations include Nigretta and Wannon falls on the Wannon River, Hopkins Falls near Warrnambool, Stephenson Falls in the Otway Ranges, Narracan Falls near Trafalgar, Woolshed Falls near Beechworth, Ladies Bath Falls near Mount Buffalo and Trentham Falls in central Victoria. Trentham Falls, where the Coliban River falls about 32 metres over basalt columns, cannot be accessed directly because of erosion-related instability but can be viewed from a platform.
Barton said waterfalls form as fast-flowing water scours softer earth beneath harder material, producing an elevation difference over time. While some smaller falls can be fleeting in geological terms, many of Victoria’s better-known cascades developed over tens or hundreds of thousands of years, with some more than a million years old.
