Narran Wetlands
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Narran Lakes Nature Reserve New South Wales |
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IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
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The wetlands are important for black-fronted dotterels
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 Narran Lakes Nature Reserve
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| Nearest town or city | Brewarrina |
| Coordinates | 29°47′42″S 147°23′22″E / 29.79500°S 147.38944°ECoordinates: 29°47′42″S 147°23′22″E / 29.79500°S 147.38944°E |
| Established | October 1988 |
| Area | 264.8 km2 (102.2 sq mi) |
| Visitation | Closed to the public |
| Managing authorities | NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service |
| Website | Narran Lakes Nature Reserve |
| See also | Protected areas of New South Wales |
The Narran Wetlands, also known as the Narran Lakes, contained within the Narran Lakes Nature Reserve, comprise a series of protected ephemeral lakes and swamps fed by the Narran River in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. The 26,480-hectare (65,400-acre) reserve is located approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Brewarrina.
An 8,447-hectare (20,870-acre) area contained within the reserve is protected under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It is internationally important because of its rarity and naturalness; its significance for waterbirds, supporting large colonial waterbird breeding events of ibis, spoonbills and cormorants; and its importance as a drought refuge for waterbirds. The vegetation and the waterbird colonies are at risk from reduced flooding caused by upstream water abstraction for agriculture in Queensland.
The wetland complex formed by the Narran floodplain is the terminal system of the Narran River, the easternmost distributary of the Balonne River, and lies between the towns of Brewarrina and Walgett, in the Murray-Darling Basin. The floodplain contains three areas of open water, Clear Lake and Back Lake (with Long Arm) in the north, and Narran Lake (also known as Terewah) in the south, connected by expanses of vegetation subject to flooding. The wetland supports extensive and dense stands of lignum with, in places, an overstorey of river red gums or belalie. The vegetation constitutes the substrate on which the waterbird breeding colonies depend and which require regular flooding for their survival. The average annual rainfall is 495 millimetres (19.5 in). The surrounding region is part of the semi-arid pastoral zone used mainly for grazing cattle and sheep.
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