Menindee Lakes

Menindee Lakes
Aerial view of the Darling River and some of the Menindee Lakes
Location	Far West, New South Wales
Coordinates	32°20′59″S 142°22′08″E / 32.34972°S 142.36889°E / -32.34972; 142.36889Coordinates: 32°20′59″S 142°22′08″E / 32.34972°S 142.36889°E / -32.34972; 142.36889
Lake type	Ephemeral fresh water
Primary inflows	Darling River
Primary outflows	Darling River
Catchment area	273,229 square kilometres (105,494 sq mi)
Basin countries	Australia
Managing agency	Murray Darling Basin Authority
Designation	National park: Kinchega
Built	1949 (1949)
First flooded	1968 (1968)
Max. length	16 kilometres (9.9 mi) (Lake Menindee only)
Max. width	14 kilometres (8.7 mi) (Lake Menindee only)
Surface area	47,500 hectares (117,000 acres)
Average depth	7 metres (23 ft)
Water volume	1,731,000 megalitres (1.403×10^6 acre·ft)
Surface elevation	60 metres (200 ft) AHD
Settlements	Menindee
References

The Menindee Lakes is a chain of shallow ephemeral freshwater lakes connected to the Darling River to form a storage system. The lakes lie in the far west region of New South Wales, Australia, near the town of Menindee.

The Menindee Lakes Water Storage Scheme supplies water to Broken Hill, the lower Darling and to water users along the Murray River in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia under the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement. Seven of the lakes have been incorporated in an artificially regulated overflow system providing both for flood mitigation and as storage for domestic use, and irrigation downstream. The lakes are also important for waterbirds.

The lakes are located approximately 110 kilometres (68 mi) south-east of Broken Hill in the semi-arid zone on grey clay and duplex soils, and siliceous and calcareous sands of the far west region.

The lakes range in size from 103–15,900 hectares (250–39,290 acres). The largest are Lakes Menindee, Wetherell, Pamamaroo and Cawndilla. These four, with Tandure, Bijijie and Balaka, are part of the Menindee Lakes Water Storage Scheme, with Cawndilla and Menindee also within the Kinchega National Park. Lakes Nettlegoe, Kangaroo, Stir Tank, New and Malta are unregulated. Lake Tandou is managed as irrigated cropland and is no longer subject to flooding.