Lake Illawarra ( Aboriginal

Tharawal language The Dharawal language, also spelt Tharawal and Thurawal, and also known as Wodiwodi and other variants, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. Phonology Consonants Vowels Vowels are phonemically /a i u/. See also * ...

: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, white clay mountain), is an open and

trained Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

intermediate wave dominated barrier estuary or large coastal

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

, is located in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, situated about south of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. Until 2014, the lake environment was administered by the Lake Illawarra Authority (LIA), a

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

established pursuant to the with the aim of transforming the degraded waters and foreshores of Lake Illawarra into an attractive recreational and tourist resource. In 2014, the LIA was replaced by the Lake Illawarra Estuary Management Committee (LIEMC), including representatives from Wollongong and Shellharbour City Councils, as well as independent scientific advisors, community members, and local Aboriginal representatives.

Location and features

Located south of the city of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, north of the city of

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellhar ...

, and northeast of

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

, Lake Illawarra receives runoff from the Illawarra escarpment through

Macquarie Rivulet Macquarie Rivulet is a perennial river located in the Southern Highlands and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia. Location and features Macquarie Rivulet rises within the Macquarie Pass National Park on the eastern slopes of the ...

and Mullet Creek, drawing from a catchment area of . With an average depth of , the relatively shallow lake, brought about because of

infill In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban mar ...

ing by sand which has been eroded from the surrounding catchments, covers a surface area of . At an elevation of , the maximum volume of water held in the lake is . The narrow tidal entrance to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

of the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

is located at

Windang Windang is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales on the southern tip of the peninsula guarding the ocean entrance to Lake Illawarra. Windang is popular for its fishing, prawning, boating, windsurfing and yachting. Windang is about 98 km ...

. Before 2007 Lake Illawarra was frequently closed to the sea. The lake system received large amounts of nutrient and sediment from the catchment which tended to remain within the lake. Water levels within the lake also fluctuated greatly, affecting the local flora species. In July 2007 the Lake Illawarra Authority completed works on training the entrance of the lake to create a permanent opening to the sea. Located on the western shore of Lake Illawarra at

Yallah Yallah is a western suburb in the City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, located on the western shore of Lake Illawarra. It contains a mixture of rural, commercial and light industrial areas. Etymology ''Yallah'' is an Australian Abo ...

is the

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

-powered Tallawarra Power Station. The power station draws water from the lake for cooling purposes, and returns water to the lake via an onsite water management system that ensures water quality is maintained at levels above the catchment average. The lake's location within the sprawling Wollongong urban area means that Lake Illawarra is vulnerable to pollution and urban run-off.

Recreation

Lake Illawarra is popular for recreational fishing, prawning and sailing. On 12 January 2009, it is suspected a man was bitten by a bull shark whilst snorkelling at Windang, near the mouth of Lake Illawarra. Birds found at the lake include

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

musk duck The musk duck (''Biziura lobata'') is a highly aquatic, stiff-tailed duck native to southern Australia. It is the only living member of the genus '' Biziura''. An extinct relative, the New Zealand musk duck or de Lautour's duck (''B. delauto ...

hoary-headed grebe The hoary-headed grebe (''Poliocephalus poliocephalus'') is a member of the grebe family. It breeds in southern parts of Australia; it winters throughout the island of Tasmania. The bird takes its name from the silvery-white streaking on its bl ...

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

s, black ducks, grey teal ducks,

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

es and

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

History

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding what is now known as Lake Illawarra are the Aboriginal

Tharawal The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, s ...

and Wadi Wadi peoples. Lake Illawarra was a valuable source of food and spirituality. Burial sites and middens (shell and camp rubbish heaps) discovered at Windang and surrounding areas indicate that the Wadi Wadi used the area extensively and performed various

corroboree A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...

s and ceremonies in the area. The name Illawarra is derived from various adaptions of the Aboriginal

words of ''elouera'', ''eloura'', or ''allowrie''; ''illa'', ''wurra'', or ''warra'' mean generally a pleasant place near the sea, or high place near the sea, or white clay mountain.

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

and

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

called the lake Tom Thumb's Lagoon on Flinders' chart, named after their little boat the ''Tom Thumb'', when they were there in March 1796. In ''Lake Illawarra: an ongoing history'', Joseph Davis provides a wide-ranging environmental and historical biography of the lake and its foreshores. The book also contains many images and photographs depicting the lake. Davis edited ''John Brown of Brownsville: his manuscripts, letterbook and the records of Dapto Show Society 1857-1904'' that deals with the man who did most to protect the vegetation of the

lake islands A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, and he authored ''Gooseberry & Hooka: the island reserves of Lake Illawarra 1829-1947'', the latter examining the records of John Brown and others and deals with the history of these two islands and how they survived to become nature refuges rather than recreation reserves.

References

External links

*
Lake Illawarra Authority
{{Rivers of New South Wales , state=autocollapse

Geography of Wollongong Illawarra, Lake City of Shellharbour Tourist attractions in Wollongong