The Lakes Argyle and Kununurra Ramsar Site comprises an extensive system of artificial freshwater reservoirs, with their associated permanent

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 p ...

s, formed by damming the

Ord River The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord ...

in the eastern part of the Kimberley region of northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The reservoirs include

Lake Argyle Lake Argyle is Western Australia's largest and Australia's second largest freshwater man-made reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is located near the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. The lake ...

and Lake Kununurra. There are numerous endemic plants and a rich fauna. The site was designated a wetland of international importance 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 site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

on 7 June 1990, making it Ramsar Site 478.

Description

The diversion dam on the Ord River was completed in 1963 as the first stage of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. It flooded the Ord valley upstream towards the site of the Argyle Dam, creating Lake Kununurra and subsidiary wetlands such as Lily Creek Lagoon and the Packsaddle Swamps. The Argyle Dam was completed in 1972 as the second stage of the scheme, creating Lake Argyle. The town of Kununurra was built at the site of the diversion dam, adjoining Lake Kununurra and Lily Creek Lagoon. Human use of the area includes irrigated

tropical agriculture Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, ...

, diamond mining and exploration, and with tourism becoming increasingly important.

Flora and fauna

Water levels in Lake Argyle fluctuate annually by about but those in Lake Kununurra and its associated wetlands are kept constant except for short periods when levels are lowered to control weed growth. There are dead trees throughout the wetland system which were killed by permanent flooding following dam construction. The lakes are deep and there are large areas of open water without aquatic plants. The large fluctuation in water levels in Lake Argyle has prevented vegetation establishment along most of the shoreline. However, because water levels are stable in Lake Kununurra and its associated wetlands, they have developed densely vegetated margins, with aquatic plants fringed by

bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **'' Scirpus'' **''Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **'' Scirpoides'' **'' Isolepis'' **'' Schoenoplectus'' **'' Trichophorum'' * T ...

es,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

. Tree species found on the wetland margins include broad-leaved paperbark, '' Eucalyptus microtheca'',

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

, ''

Nauclea orientalis ''Nauclea orientalis'' is a species of tree in the family Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia. It has many common names, including bur tree, canary wood, Leichhardt pine and yellow cheesewood. It grows to a maximum of a ...

'', ''

Sesbania formosa ''Sesbania formosa'' (common names - White dragon tree, Vegetable humming bird, Swamp corkwood; Dragon tree; Dragon flower tree) is a leguminous tree native to northern Australia, first described in 1860 by Ferdinand von Mueller as ''Agati formos ...

'' and '' Lophostemon grandiflorus''. The lakes form an important

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

refuge for

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s, with regular numbers of over 20,000 and sometimes of up to 200,000 individuals. Lake Argyle contains some of the largest aggregations of waterbirds in northern Australia. Abundant species include

glossy ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

(with up to 6,000 counted), magpie goose (10,500),

wandering whistling duck The wandering whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arcuata'') is a species of whistling duck. They inhabit tropical and subtropical Australia, the Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. Taxonomy There are three subsp ...

(11,000), plumed whistling duck (4,300),

radjah shelduck The radjah shelduck (''Radjah radjah''), is a species of shelduck found mostly in New Guinea and Australia, and also on some of the Moluccas. It is known alternatively as the raja shelduck, black-backed shelduck, or in Australia as the Burdekin ...

(900),

Pacific black duck The Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa''), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the no ...

(16,000), grey teal (17,200),

pink-eared duck The pink-eared duck (''Malacorhynchus membranaceus'') is a species of duck found in Australia. It has a large spatulate bill like the Australasian shoveler, but is smaller at 38–40 cm length. Its brown back and crown, black and white barr ...

(1,800),

hardhead The hardhead (''Aythya australis''), also known as the white-eyed duck, is the only true diving duck found in Australia. The common name "hardhead" has nothing to do with the density of the bird's skull, instead referring to the difficulty encou ...

(51,400),

green pygmy goose The green pygmy goose (''Nettapus pulchellus'') is a small perching duck which breeds in southern New Guinea and northern Australia.Alpher, Barry. 2004. Pama-Nyungan: Phonological Reconstruction and Status as a Phylo-Genetic Group. In Claire Bowe ...

(1,500) and

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

(50,000). The two lakes are a stronghold of the

comb-crested jacana The comb-crested jacana (''Irediparra gallinacea''), also known as the lotusbird or lilytrotter, is the only species of jacana in the genus ''Irediparra''. Like other jacana species, it is adapted to the floating vegetation of tropical freshwat ...

. Over 200 terrestrial and aquatic bird species have been recorded in the area, which also supports several kinds of

microbat Microbats constitute the suborder Microchiroptera within the order Chiroptera ( bats). Bats have long been differentiated into Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera, based on their size, the use of echolocation by the Microchiroptera an ...

s, the little red and black flying-foxes,

rakali The rakali (''Hydromys chrysogaster)'', also known as the rabe or water-rat, is an Australian native rodent first described in 1804. Adoption of the Aboriginal name Rakali is intended to foster a positive public attitude by Environment Australia ...

, and large numbers of

freshwater crocodiles The freshwater crocodile (''Crocodylus johnstoni''), also known as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnstone's crocodile or the freshie, is a species of crocodile Endemism, endemic to the northern regions of Australia. Unlike their much la ...

References

External links

Lakes Argyle and Kununurra Ramsar Site – map
{{Ramsar sites in Australia Argyle Ramsar sites in Australia Ord River Kununurra, Western Australia

Description

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links