The first natural flow in the Wimmera River since 2012 flowed past Antwerp earlier this week and is progressing northwards to a point beyond the Tarranyurk bridge by Friday evening.

Prior to this event the river had dried up to the point where it was just a series of stagnant waterholes linked by stretches of dry riverbed with only the weir pools at Dimboola and Jeparit holding any significant quantities of water in the lower reaches of the river.

The only man made structure on the river between the Antwerp and Tarranyurk road bridges is the old Antwerp weir (pictured above) which was constructed of timber and stone in 1903 to create a more permanent body of water for the local community. The weir pool became the venue for the annual Antwerp rowing regattas in the following years.

It is unclear when it was no longer required and fell into disrepair, but a significant amount of the structure still remains.

Proposals were put forward in the early years of last century to construct a similar structure near Tarranyurk to provide a water supply for that area but this never built.

This series of photographs were taken in the vicinity of the Antwerp weir both this week and back in April and they highlight this structure in the dry and with the water flowing.

Two historical photographs, taken in 1903, have been included to compare with ones taken recently from similar locations to show the changes over the last century. The most obvious being the regrowth of trees around the weir itself.


A view looking downsteam from the south of the weir showing the dry riverbed. - April 2016




Another view looking north as water flows through the weir. - August 2016





The Antwerp weir soon after construction in 1903 looking south. - 1903 - Photo courtesy of the State Library of Victoria




A similar view taken 113 years later. - August 2016





The view of the Wimmera River upstream from the Antwerp weir. - November 1903 - Photo courtesy of the State Library of Victoria




The same view in August 2016.