Lake Annean, sometimes referred to as Annean Lake or incorrectly as Nannine Lake, is a
DIWA-listed
salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
system located in the
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
region of
Western Australia. The lake is situated about southwest of
Meekatharra.
Description
The lake is roughly in area, and consists of a main waterbody with two elongate arms. The main waterbody is roughly rectangular, with its long side oriented along a north-westerly axis. A narrow arm, essentially a network of
anastomosing creeks, arises from near the eastern edge, stretching north almost to Meekatharra; the lake receives inflow from this arm and also some smaller creeks on the west and north side. Drainage is via the other arm, which arises from near the western edge and reaches almost to headwaters of the
Hope River, into which Lake Anneen flows following heavy rains. A low ridge nearly divides the lake roughly in two, and the
Great Northern Highway now runs along this ridge.
Lake Annean is shallow, with a great many islands and peninsulas. Some parts of the lake almost always hold water, but the entire lake fills only after flooding caused by tropical summer and autumn rains. This occurs only every five to ten years.
It is one of the most important breeding sites in Western Australia for ''
Gelochelidon nilotica
The gull-billed tern (''Gelochelidon nilotica''), formerly ''Sterna nilotica'', is a tern in the family Laridae. It is widely distributed and breeds in scattered localities in Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and the Americas. The Australian gull ...
'' (gull-billed tern) and ''
Chlidonias hybridus'' (whiskered tern). It is also an important refuge for other waterbirds, the nearest adjacent wetland,
Wooleen Lake, being nearly away.
The
ghost town of
Nannine is located on the northern banks of Lake Annean. The lake is no longer currently subject to any human use, except for some recreational
sailboarding
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
by residents of the area. Potential degrading processes include
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
grazing, grazing and predation by feral and introduced animals, the illicit picking of wildflowers, and pollution by the highway or nearby gold mines.
See also
*
List of lakes of Western Australia
The following lists of lakes of Western Australia are arranged alphabetically:
* List of lakes of Western Australia, A–C (plus numerals)
* List of lakes of Western Australia, D–K
* List of lakes of Western Australia, L–P
* List of lakes of ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anneen, Lake
Lakes of the Mid West (Western Australia)
DIWA-listed wetlands
Protected areas of Western Australia
Saline lakes of Western Australia