Lake Hope is an

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

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). ...

in the far north of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Description

It is situated approximately south west of Innamincka and north east of Marree. Both Lake Hope and nearby Red Lake are on the southern side of the

Cooper Creek The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its t ...

in the

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

country. Both are also found within the boundaries of Mulka and Lake Hope Stations. The lakes are both within the

Lake Eyre basin The Lake Eyre basin ( ) is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia. It is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about , including much of inland Queensland, large porti ...

and a fishing licence has been issued for each of the lakes for an operation out of Mulka Station. The licence allows the removal of of Lake Eyre Golden Perch, Welch's Grunter and the Barcoo Grunter but only once the lakes have disconnected from the Cooper Creek after a flood event. When full the lake occupies an area of approximately and is approximately long. The lake is filled periodically from the flooding of Cooper Creek. In 1990 waters from Cooper Creek reached Lake Hope but did not reach

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...

. The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

name for the lake is ''Pando penunie'' which means great lake. The first Europeans to discover the lake were S. J. and R. J. Stuckey in October 1859. The named the lake because they hoped for greater fortune in the future.

Thomas Elder Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...

took up the first

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

in the area in 1860. Lake Hope is located within the boundaries of the

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

system known as the

Coongie Lakes The Coongie Lakes is a freshwater wetland system located in the Far North (South Australia), Far North region of South Australia. The lakes system is located approximately north of the Adelaide city centre. The wetlands includes lakes, channel ...

which is both listed internationally under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

and within Australia with an identical listing in "

A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (DIWA) is a list of wetlands of national importance to Australia published by the governmental agency Environment Australia. Intended to augment the list of wetlands of international importance under th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Lake , South Australia Saline lakes of South Australia Lake Hope Endorheic lakes of Australia Lake Hope

Description

See also

References