Lake Gregory (South Australia)


Lake Gregory is a salt lake located in the Far North region of South Australia. The lake lies to the west of Lake Blanche; to the east the Birdsville Track runs in between it and Lake Eyre.

Description

The lands around the lake are used for pastoralism, with both sheep and cattle grazing the surrounding plains. Dulkaninna Station is found in the south west corner of the lake.

Hydrology

Lake Gregory is fed by local rainfall and by overflows from Lake Blanche to its east. It was filled in 1974, 1984 and 1990.

History

It is named after the explorer Augustus Charles Gregory, who first passed by it in 1858. Originally Lake Eyre was named Lake Gregory by B. H. Babbage, but the names were modified by Governor Richard Graves MacDonnell, who preferred to name the former after the famous explorer who first investigated the region twenty years prior, Edward John Eyre.

Natural history

The lake is within the extent of the Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for waterbirds when holding water in the aftermath of floods.