The Water Cycle
Water - every living thing needs it to survive.
The planet Earth has been recycling water for millions and millions of years with a process known as the 'water cycle'.
The same water that the dinosaurs drank is continually recycled thanks to a process involving evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Nature has to recycle because it cannot create any new water. There is no more water on the Earth today than there was when the life on Earth first began.
Of all the water on Earth only 1% of it is fresh water that is available for us to use. Around 97% is salt water and another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers.
The Hastings' water journey begins in the catchment when the clouds burst and the rain falls.
The rainwater flows directly into the creeks and rivers and also soaks into the earth creating ground water.
The ground water trickles into the creeks and rivers and helps to keep them flowing, even during times of drought.
The Hastings catchment is 3,846 km2. It stretches from the Mount Seaview Range down the Hastings Valley through pockets of untouched forest, across our rural landscapes and through towns on its journey to the sea.
The catchment is only one third the size of the nearby Macleay River catchment, which is about 12,000 km2.
Surface and ground water are found throughout the catchment. Deep ground water up to 100 metres below the surface is found in the higher country regions. The ground water closer to the coast is more shallow (often 9 to 20 metres below the surface). There is no artesian water in the Hastings region.
The catchment has many wetlands particularly throughout the North Shore, Partridge Creek and Lake Innes areas. Lakes include Lake Innes, Lake Cathie, Watson Taylor Lake and Queens Lake, all of which are salt water.
The Hastings River is 165 kilometres long and is the main river in the catchment area. It starts life as a trickle of groundwater in the Race Course Swamp in the Werrikimbe National Park.
The major tributary of the lower Hastings River is the Wilson River with other major upper tributaries being the Forbes, Ellenborough and Thone Rivers and Pappinbarra Creek.
