Cotter River

The Cotter River, a perennial river of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

The Cotter River, a perennial river of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The Cotter River, together with the Queanbeyan River, is one of two rivers that provides potable water to the Canberra and Queanbeyan region.

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding the Cotter River are the Aboriginal people of the Ngunnawal clan.

The river was named in honour of Garrett Cotter, an Irish-born convict who was transported to Australia for "the term of his natural life". Cotter was banished from Lake George to the western side of the Murrumbidgee River in 1832. He built a house near the headwaters of the river that was later to bear his name. Cotter was granted a ticket-of-leave in 1843; given a conditional pardon in 1846 that gave him freedom of movement, except in Britain and Ireland; and later lived in Michelago.When the Government surveyor, Charles Scrivener, recommended Canberra as the best site for Australia's national capital, water catchment was a significant consideration. Some 480 square kilometres (190 sq mi) were reserved within the ACT as the catchment area of the Cotter River. The catchment area was calculated to support a planned population of 100,000.