When Colonel William Light went in search of the exit of the Torrens river out to sea, he found it didn’t have one. Instead, the Torrens River flowed freely from the Adelaide hills to the plains ending amoung huge gums in an extenxive reedy swamp known as the Reedbeds, located in the area now known as Henley Beach and surrounding suburbs.
Settlers soon found the area was ideal for grazing stock, and growing crops. However, the Torrens brought with it the storm water run off from Adelaide, and the area was prone to frequent flooding. This resulted in the loss of crops, occasional loss of stock, and severely hampered further development around the area. This was finally resolved with the construction of the Torrens Outlet – Breakout Creek.
