Lake Connewarre | |
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![]() View of lake from Tait Point | |
Location in Victoria | |
Location | Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria |
Coordinates | 38°13′29″S144°27′21″E / 38.22472°S 144.45583°E [1] |
Type | Estuarine |
Native name | Kunawarr keelingk (Wathawurrung) |
Primary inflows | Barwon River |
Primary outflows | Barwon River |
Basin countries | Australia |
Surface area | 880 hectares (2,200 acres) |
Average depth | 0.5–2 m (1 ft 8 in – 6 ft 7 in) |
References | [1] [2] [3] [4] |
Lake Connewarre (Aboriginal Wathawurrung language: Kunawarr keelingk [2] literally meaning black swan lake), a shallow estuarine 880-hectare (2,200-acre) lake on the Barwon River, is located on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.
It is adjacent to, and downstream from, the freshwater Reedy Lake. Lake Connewarre is linked to the sea by the mangrove-fringed channel of the lower Barwon River estuary, resulting in the lake being subject to tidal flows, with a weir at the inflow to the lake preventing saline water progressing upstream.
Lake Connewarre forms part of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site as a wetland of international importance, with much of the wetland area also part of the Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve. However, most of the land surrounding Lake Connewarre has been cleared for agricultural purposes resulting in environmental degradation. Water pollution from upriver has also resulted in a drop in water quality, and reduced inflows to the lake have caused silting problems. [4] The lake is shallow being less than one metre in depth and generally unsuitable for boating.
The lake and its associated wetlands are part of the Bellarine Wetlands Important Bird Area because of its conservation significance for several species of waders, waterbirds and the orange-bellied parrot. [5] [6] [7]
The lake is fished commercially for short-finned eel. It also usually contains yellow-eye mullet, black bream and Australian salmon. Other fish may be present, depending on salinity levels.
Lake Alexandrina is a coastal freshwater lake located between the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island and Murray and Mallee regions of South Australia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-east of Adelaide. The lake adjoins the smaller Lake Albert and a coastal lagoon called The Coorong to its southeast, before draining into the Great Australian Bight via a short, narrow opening known as Murray Mouth.
The Barwon River is a perennial river of the Corangamite catchment, located in The Otways and the Bellarine Peninsula regions of the Australian state of Victoria.
Leopold is a residential eastern suburb of Geelong and is a gateway to the Bellarine Peninsula. At the 2016 census, Leopold had a population of 12,814.
Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to the west by farmland, golf courses and the saline ephemeral wetland of Murtnaghurt Lagoon. At the 2016 census, Barwon Heads had a population of 3,875.
Point Lonsdale is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Point Nepean, frame The Rip, the entrance to Port Phillip. The headland is dominated by the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. At the 2016 census, Point Lonsdale had a population of 2,684. The population grows rapidly over the summer months through to the Easter period due to its popularity as a holiday destination.
Lake Corangamite, a hypersaline endorheic lake, is located near Colac in the Lakes and Craters region of the Victorian Volcanic Plains of south-west Victoria, Australia. The lake's salinity levels have increased dramatically as the lake level has dropped in recent decades. It is Australia's largest permanent saline lake, covering approximately 230 square kilometres (89 sq mi) with a circumference of 150 kilometres (93 mi). It forms part of the Ramsar-listed Western District Lakes wetland site. The Aboriginal name of the lake is recorded as Kronimite.
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.
Lake Borrie Wetlands is a coastal wetland that is located in the Greater Geelong region of Victoria, Australia. The wetland is situated within the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee; administered by Melbourne Water.
Lake Victoria is a 139-hectare (340-acre) shallow saline lake on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria in Australia, close to the township of Point Lonsdale and part of the Lonsdale Lakes Nature Reserve administered by Parks Victoria.
Connewarre, is a locality in Victoria, Australia, is located in the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire, and is named after Lake Connewarre which is situated immediately to its north-east. Connewarre is a version of "kunuwarra", the name of the black swan in the Wathawurrung language. At the 2016 census, Connewarre and the surrounding area had a population of 788.
The Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park is a marine protected area located in the vicinity of the bay of Port Phillip, between the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, in Victoria, Australia. The 3,580-hectare (8,800-acre) marine national park comprises six separate sites located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-west of Melbourne and stretches along 40 kilometres (25 mi) of coastline of Victoria.
Lake Connewarre State Wildlife Reserve (LCSWR) is a 3411.1 ha Park in Victoria, Australia, that contains a diverse range of unique and significant ecosystems including a river, tidal delta, lakes, swamps, salt marshes and grasslands.
Lake Albacutya is an ephemeral lake located in Albacutya within the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia. It is one of a series of terminal lakes on the Wimmera River, which form the largest land-locked drainage system in Victoria. Lake Albacutya is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
Reedy Lake, historically also known as Lake Reedy, is a shallow 5.5-square-kilometre (2.1 sq mi) intermittent freshwater lake or swamp on the lower reaches of the Barwon River, on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria.
The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ramsar Site No.266. Much of the site is also part of either the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area or the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of their importance for wetland and waterbirds as well as for orange-bellied parrots. It comprises some six disjunct, largely coastal, areas of land, totalling 229 km2, along the western shore of Port Phillip and on the Bellarine Peninsula, in the state of Victoria. Wetland types protected include shallow marine waters, estuaries, freshwater lakes, seasonal swamps, intertidal mudflats and seagrass beds.
Murtnaghurt Lagoon, also known as Murtnaghurt Swamp or Lake Murtnaghurt, is a shallow, ephemeral wetland west of the town of Barwon Heads on the southern coast of the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. It comprises two enclosed depressions, elongated west-east and separated by a low ridge. The wetland is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in length, and up to 600 metres (2,000 ft) wide, with 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) of shoreline enclosing an area of 81 hectares. It is connected by a narrow 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) palaeochannel extending from the lagoon northwards to the main tidal channel of the lower Barwon River.
The Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area comprises a cluster of disparate sites centred at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, and the southern end of Port Phillip, in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. As well as providing core wintering habitat for orange-bellied parrots, it is important for waders, or shorebirds, and seabirds.
The Bellarine Wetlands Important Bird Area comprises a group of wetland sites, with a collective area of 46 km2, at the western end of the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The site is important for waterbirds and orange-bellied parrots.
Lake Barracoota is a naturally forming permanent freshwater lake located in the East Gippsland region in the Australian state of Victoria. The lake is located entirely within the Croajingolong National Park and when full, the surface area of the lake is 240 hectares.
The Point Cook Coastal Park covers an area of 863 hectares and includes the Cheetham Wetlands. The park extends from the RAAF Williams Point Cook Base northeast along the coast to the Laverton creek which comprises its northern boundary. The park is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Melbourne, Australia in a southwesterly direction along Port Phillip Bay. The park is adjoined by the Point Cook Marine Sanctuary, which extends around the point to the south and the east. The northwestern boundary to the park is residential housing.