SNOWY RIVER

river, southeastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, Australia, rising on the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains near Mt. Kosciusko and flowing about 270 mi (435 km) southeast, then west and south to Bass Strait at Marlo. Its chief tributaries are the Eucumbene, Thredbo, and Bombala rivers in New South Wales and the Buchan in Victoria. Fed by melting snows, the river plays a major role in the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, one of the world's largest power and irrigation projects. Its waters are impounded at a high elevation, diverted through tunnels under the Australian Alps to generate electricity, then discharged into the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. The stream was explored in 1839 by Angus McMillan.