Smiths Lake, an intermittently closed youthful

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

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 within the

Mid-Coast Council MidCoast Council is a local government area (LGA) located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree councils. ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens north of Sydney, and extending as far north as Woolgoolg ...

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 ...

, Australia. Smiths Lake is located adjacent to the village of Smiths Lake, and adjacent to the east coast, about north 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 ...

Features and location

Drawing its catchment from within

Wallingat National Park Wallingat is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, northeast of Sydney. The park has forest walks, a campsite on the banks of the Wallingat River and a viewpoint, the Whoota Whoota Lookout, with views of Wallis Lake and the coa ...

, Wallingat State Forest and the Wamwarra and Tarbuck creeks, Smiths Lake has a relatively small catchment area of and a surface area of . Part of the lake shore is a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...

that separates the lake from 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 ...

. When the

deems that the lake water level is too high and may cause flooding to low-lying areas around the lake, a trench is constructed from the lake to the ocean using a

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

. This releases water from the lake into the ocean and considerably lowers the lake water level. Due to the nature of Smiths Lake being a coastal dune lake, or coastal lagoon, it was featured in an American documentary about conservation done by producer Elam Stoltzfus. The most northern of the Ramsar-protected

Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of ''Acacia'': * ''Acacia binervia ''Acacia binervia'', commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a t ...

are located close to the south of Smiths Lake. However, Smiths Lake does not connect nor is formally part of the Myall Lakes. The southern part of Smiths Lake also forms the northern boundary of the

Myall Lakes National Park Myall Lakes National Park is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney. It encompasses one of the state's largest coastal lake systems Myall Lakes, and includes Broughton Island. The park includes 40 kilometres of ...

. Within Smiths Lake there are three islands; Big Island, Little Island, and Bull Island. Smiths Lake supported a small but viable commercial fishing industry up until April 2007, when the lake was incorporated into the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park. Because of this, the western third of Smiths Lake is classed as a Sanctuary Zone and the northeastern area, known as Symes Bay, is classed as Habitat Protection Zone, which means commercial fishing in more than two thirds of the lake is no longer permitted.

References

External links

* {{Suburbs of Mid-Coast Council Lakes of New South Wales Mid-Coast Council Mid North Coast

Features and location

See also

References

External links