Lake Argyle
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Kununurra
Wyndham
Halls Creek
The lake is located close to the border with the Northern Territory and eighty kilometres inland from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. It is the largest lake in the state and is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Creation of the lake in 1972 flooded a large area of the Kimberley Plateau.
The spillway wall was raised by 6 metres in 1996, which doubled the capacity of the lake. In the mid 1990s sediment flowing into the lake caused concerns that its capacity could be dramatically reduced. However, by 2006 regeneration of the upper Ord catchment area reduced the amount of sediment flowing into the lake.
The lake normally has a surface area of about 1,000 square kilometres and the storage capacity to the top of the spillway is 10,763,000 megalitres. The lake first filled to capacity in 1973, following which the spillway flowed until 1984. The lake's usual storage volume is 5,797,000 megalitres, making it one of the largest reservoirs in Australia. At maximum flood level the lake is capable of holding 35 million megalitres of water and covering a surface area of 2,072 square kilometres.
Lake Argyle, together with Lake Kununurra, is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. An area of some 150 square kilometres of farmland is presently under irrigation in the area. The original plan was for dam water to irrigate rice crops for export to China. However, these plans failed as waterfowl, especially magpie geese ate rice shoots faster than they could be planted. Other crops are now grown in the area, although it is Australia's most under-utilized lake.
The damming of the Ord River has caused major changes to the environment and flows to the Ord River have been severely reduced. However, a thriving new eco-system has evolved within the lake .The lake is home to 26 species of native fish and a population of some 25,000 freshwater crocodiles. Fish species present within the lake include barramundi, southern saratoga, archer fish, forktail cat fish, mouth almighty, long tom, bony bream and sleepy cod.
Approximately 150,000 waterbirds are found on the lake plus within its surrounding mudflats and grasslands. The lake is especially important for birds such as Magpie Geese, Wandering Whistling-ducks, Green Pygmy-geese, Pacific Black Ducks, Hardheads, Black-necked Storks and Australian Bustards. Plus, White-headed Stilts, Red-capped Plovers, Oriental Plovers, Black-fronted Dotterels, Long-toed Stints and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.
