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The 'Molonglo River' rises on the western side of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia in the state of New South Wales. Its source is on the other side of the mountain range from where the Shoalhaven River rises, in Tallaganda state forest at ~1200 metres altitude. The Molonglo River flows from south to north before turning northwest, through the outskirts of the New South Wales town of Queanbeyan, where it picks up its major tributary the Queanbeyan River, and then continues through the nation's federal capital city of Canberra, where it has been dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin. It then flows on to empty into the Murrumbidgee River to the northwest of Canberra. Over its course the Molonglo River alternates between long broad floodplains and narrow rocky gorges several times. In the Limestone Plains upon which both Canberra and Lake Burley-Griffin have been constructed the Molonglo River is in its floodplain form.
The river's name was recorded as the "Yeal-am-bid-gie" in 1820 by the explorer Charles Throsby. This was probably the collective local Ngunnawal language name for the river. (The suffix "bidgee" was common in Aboriginal names for rivers in the Canberra area and presumably means "water" or "river".) The Moolinggolah people of the district around Captains Flat probably gave the Molonglo its name. Where the river flowed through what is now Canberra, it was probably known after the Ngambri people, transcribed as Kembury, Canberry, and other transcription variations.
In the early years of European settlement both the Molonglo and the Queanbeyan were known as the "Fish River" for the abundance of native fish in them. The Molonglo was renowned as a beautiful river with excellent fishing for native Murray Cod, Golden Perch and Silver Perch. Sadly, this abundance of native fish did not last. In the 1930s and 1940s, mine tailings at Captains Flat twice collapsed into the upper reaches of the river, eradicating all native fish and most other aquatic life downstream from the site. Despite government funded rehabilitation programs in 1976, some toxic leachates still enter the river from the Captain's Flat mine site.
Consequently, when Lake Burley Griffin was built upon the Molonglo and filled in 1964, the waters were devoid of native fish. Restockings commencing in the 1970s and 1980s have re-established Murray Cod and Golden Perch in the lake and a short stretch of river upstream. A large stretch of the Molonglo still holds nothing but introduced fish species and is still waiting for the native fish species to be re-established.

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Selected References

Selected References

Lintermans, M. (2000) ''The Status of Fish in the Australian Capital Territory : A Review of Current Knowledge and Management Requirements. Technical Report No. 15.'' Environment ACT, Canberra.