Lake Hindmarsh
| Lake Hindmarsh | |
|---|---|
 Lake Hindmarsh
Location in Victoria
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| Location | Wimmera, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 36°03′41″S 141°54′47″E / 36.06139°S 141.91306°ECoordinates: 36°03′41″S 141°54′47″E / 36.06139°S 141.91306°E |
| Type | Eutrophic |
| Primary inflows | Wimmera River |
| Primary outflows | Outlet Creek (When full), evaporation |
| Catchment area | 23,500 km2 (9,100 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Max. length | 22 km (14 mi) |
| Max. width | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Surface area | 135 km2 (52 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 3.4 m (11 ft) |
| Max. depth | 3.65 m (12.0 ft) |
| Water volume | 378 GL (8.3×1010 imp gal; 1.00×1011 US gal) |
Lake Hindmarsh, an eutrophic lake located in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia, is the state’s largest natural freshwater lake. The nearest towns are Jeparit to the south and Rainbow to the north. After more than a decade of drought, in early 2011 the lake filled as a result of flooding in the region.
The area around the lake is the traditional country of the Gromiluk, a branch of the Wotjobaluk people. Explorer Edward Eyre camped at Lake Hindmarsh in 1838 while searching for an overland route from Melbourne to Adelaide and named the lake after the then governor of South Australia, John Hindmarsh. European pastoralists occupied land around the lake from 1845, and in 1859 the Moravian Ebenezer Mission was established nearby.
Lake Hindmarsh is the southernmost lake of the Wimmera River Terminal Wetlands, and receives water directly from the Wimmera River. When full, the lake covers 13,500 hectares (33,000 acres), is 3.4 metres (11 ft) deep and holds 378 gigalitres (8.3×1010 imp gal; 1.00×1011 US gal) of water. It is a wetland of national significance. On the rare occasions when Lake Hindmarsh overflows, water runs, via Outlet Creek, to the deeper Lake Albacutya, which has been recognised under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.
Flat and shallow, Lake Hindmarsh is subject to very high evaporation. When it is full, evaporation from the lake is around 140,000 megalitres (3.1×1010 imp gal; 3.7×1010 US gal) per year. With flows down the Wimmera River averaging only half of that, the lake rarely fills, although if it does so, the water takes three to four years to evaporate entirely.
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Wikipedia