Lake Albert (South Australia)

Lake Albert, also known by its Ngarrindjeri name, Yarli, is a notionally fresh water lake near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia. It is filled by water flowing in from the larger Lake Alexandrina at its mouth near Narrung. It is separated on the south by the Narrung Peninsula from the salt-water Coorong. The only major town on the lake is Meningie. Lakes Alexandrina and Albert are together known as the Lower Lakes.

For other uses, see Lake Albert (disambiguation).

Lake Albert
The picture shows Lake Albert from its shore. In the foreground is a sandy shore and a pipeline leading towards the lake. The lake is in the right of the photo. In the background there are trees on the left and brown hills on the right.
Lake Albert seen from Meningie
A map of South Australia with a mark indicating the location of Lake Albert. The lake is south-east of Adelaide, west of the Victorian border, and close to the southern coastline.
A map of South Australia with a mark indicating the location of Lake Albert. The lake is south-east of Adelaide, west of the Victorian border, and close to the southern coastline.
Lake Albert
LocationSouth Australia
Coordinates35°38′S 139°17′E[1]
Native nameYarli (Ngarrindjeri)[2]
EtymologyPrince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Part ofMurray–Darling basin
Basin countriesAustralia
Managing agencyDepartment of Environment and Water
DesignationRamsar/DIWA wetlands (part)[1]
Surface area168 square kilometres (65 sq mi)[1]
IslandsBascombe Island[3]
SettlementsMeningie, Narrung
Official nameThe Coorong, Lake Alexandrina & Albert Wetland
Designated1 November 1985
Reference no.321[4]

Naming of lake

The lake was named after Prince Albert, the Consort of Queen Victoria, by George Gawler, the Governor of South Australia.[5]

Tourism
Two pelicans on Lake Albert at Meningie

Lake Albert is visited regularly by people travelling to and from Melbourne, the Limestone Coast, the Coorong National Park, Tailem Bend, Murray Bridge, and Adelaide.

Visitors enjoy fishing, camping, bushwalking, 4WD tracks, bird watching and water sports.

Water problems

Because there are no significant tributaries and a high evaporation rate, Lake Albert is saltier than Lake Alexandrina. It is also smaller and not as deep, but it is more protected from the elements. In 2008, water levels in Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert became so low that large quantities of acid sulphate soils started to form.[6] The possibility of flooding the lake with seawater to prevent acidification was raised, and tension remains between South Australia and the upstream states over how to share the dwindling supply of water.[7] To this day the lake remains at significant risk of water loss and high salinity.[8]

Flora and fauna

Birds

Lake Albert supports critically endangered orange-bellied parrots, endangered Australasian bitterns, vulnerable fairy terns, as well as over 1% of the world populations of Cape Barren geese, Australian shelducks, great cormorants and sharp-tailed sandpipers.[9]

Protected area status

Australian government

Lake Albert is part of the wetland complex known as the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland which is listed as a Ramsar site. The wetland is also appears in the non-statutory list known as A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia.[10][11]

Non-statutory arrangements

Lake Albert is included within the boundary of the Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Important Bird Area which is an area considered by BirdLife International to be a place of ‘international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity.’[9][12]

Administrative status

The full extent of Lake Albert was gazetted as a ‘rural locality’ on 8 May 2014 along with Lake Alexandrina. The boundary of the locality of ‘Lake Albert’ with the rural locality of Lake Alexandrina occurs at the alignment of Poltalloch Road within the locality of Poltalloch on the northern side of the Albert Channel which connects both lakes.[2][13][14] The locality was included in the 2016 census and was found to have no people living within its boundaries.[15] It also shares the postcode of "5259" with the adjoining localities of Narrung and Poltalloch.[2]

See also

References
  1. Morelli, J (1995). "Search result for 'The Coorong, Lake Alexandrina & Lake Albert – SA063'". Australian Wetland Database. Australian government. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. "Search result for 'Lake Albert, Locb' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Counties', 'Hundreds', 'Local Government Areas', "Postcodes', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  3. Boating Industry Association of South Australia (BIA); South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage (2005), South Australia's waters an atlas & guide, Boating Industry Association of South Australia, p. 31, ISBN 978-1-86254-680-6
  4. "The Coorong, Lake Alexandrina & Albert Wetland". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  5. "Late Shipwreck and Murders at Encounter Bay. FIRST Report of MAJOR O'HALLORAN, Commissioner of Police, to His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR". Southern Australian. Adelaide. 11 September 1840. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2014 – via National Library of Australia. the shores of Lake Albert, named by your Excellency after her Majesty's Royal Consort. It is a fine body of water to the South of Lake Alexandrina, and united to it by a narrow channel.
  6. "Catalyst – Fire, Flood and Acid Mud". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  7. "Now a dust bowl where once was a lake". The Australian. 7 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012.
  8. "South Australia seeks more Murray River flow from upstream states to fight Lake Albert salinity". ABC Online. 2 September 2014.
  9. "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lakes Alexandrina and Albert". BirdLife International. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  10. "Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland Ramsar site" (PDF). Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  11. "Australian Wetlands Database – Directory Wetland Information Sheet: The Coorong, Lake Alexandrina & Lake Albert – SA063". Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Environment. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  12. "Sites – Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)". BirdLife International. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  13. "Creation of the rural localities of Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert" (PDF). Place name proposals. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  14. BURDETT, M. (8 May 2014). "GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT, 1991 Notice to Assign the Boundaries of Places" (PDF). South Australian Government Gazette. Government of South Australia. p. 1587. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  15. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Lake Albert (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
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