Lake Canobolas is a man-made reservoir located near

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, in the central west 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. Completed in the early 1900s, between 1918 and 1957 the lake supplied water to Orange and since the 1970s has been used for recreation purposes.

Location and features

Lake Canobolas, formerly known as Meadow Creek Dam across the Molong Creek, is located approximately to the southwest of Orange, below Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano and one of the highest peaks between the Blue Mountains and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. Between 1918 and 1957, the dam was managed by Canobolas Shire Council and used for water supply to the town of Orange. Since that time the administration of the area surrounding Lake Canobolas and the dam were taken over by the Orange City Council and were developed for recreational purposes. The area of now comprises the lake, an earth sanctuary, a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, and a

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and lies within the Cabonne Shire. Since 1962, the main water supply for Orange is sourced from

Suma Park Dam Suma Park Dam is a concrete arch dam across the Summer Hill Creek in the central west region of New South Wales, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is to supply potable water to the city of Orange. The impounded reservoir A reservoi ...

on the eastern side of Orange. The name of the lake is derived from the Aboriginal words , meaning shoulder and meaning two. It was used by the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

to refer to the twin peaks, now known as Old Man Canobolas and Young Man Canobolas. The Lake is regularly used by Colour City Dragons and Pinnacle Paddlers- dragon boat clubs. The area is also used by the Orange Triathlon Club and Goldseekers Orienteering Club for Park foot orienteering.

References

Central West (New South Wales) Canobolas Canobolas City of Orange {{NewSouthWales-struct-stub