Avon River
The Avon Dam
Location of mouth
Location
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Sydney Basin (IBRA), Southern Highlands, Macarthur
Local government areas	Wollongong, Wollondilly
Physical characteristics
Source	Illawarra escarpment
• location	west of Calderwood
• elevation	348 m (1,142 ft)
Mouth	confluence with the Cordeaux River
• location	near Wilton
• elevation	193 m (633 ft)
Length	32 km (20 mi)
Basin features
River system	Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment
Reservoir	Lake Avon
[1]

The Avon River, a perennial river of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Highlands and Macarthur districts of New South Wales, Australia.

Course

The Avon River rises on the western slopes of the Illawarra escarpment, near Calderwood within the Wollongong local government area and flows generally north, reaching its confluence with the Cordeaux River, south of Wilton. The river descends 155 metres (509 ft) over its 32-kilometre (20 mi) course.^[1]

The river is impounded by Lake Avon, the largest of the four reservoirs within the Upper Nepean Scheme that supplies potable water for greater metropolitan Sydney. Located near Bargo, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-west of Sydney,^[2] construction of Avon Dam commenced in 1921 and was completed in 1927. In 1963, the water supply was diverted to meet the increasing needs of the Illawarra region and now supplies all the Wollongong area.^[3]