Angove Lake is a permanent
fresh water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...
lake in the
Great Southern region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, within the
Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve.
Description
The lake is part of the Moates Lake System, along with
Moates Lake and
Lake Gardner. All of these
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s were linked to form a large
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
system during the last interglacial period approximately 120,000 years ago.
The main waterbody covers a maximum area of but the associated wetlands cover an area closer to . The area south of the lake was drained with a channel being constructed to connect it with Gardner Creek. The water in the lake is fresh and low in
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...
, water from the river system that supplies the lake is also used pumped to
Albany as part of the town's water supply.
Environment
The lake lies within the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve.
Very little of the catchment is cleared so the stream system and the lake are in almost pristine condition. The lake itself is essentially a large sedge swamp with large stands of ''
Baumea articulata'' with a fringing forest of
paperbark and
Agonis. The lake forms part of the
Two Peoples Bay and Mount Manypeaks Important Bird Area
The Two Peoples Bay and Mount Manypeaks Important Bird Area is a 261 km2 tract of coastal and subcoastal land east of the city of Albany, Western Australia, Albany in south-west Western Australia. It is an important site for the conserva ...
, identified as such by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
because of its significance in the conservation of several rare and threatened bird species.
[BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Two Peoples Bay and Mount Manypeaks. Downloaded from on 18 November 2011.]
The critically endangered
Spotted galaxias
Spotted galaxias (''Galaxias truttaceus'') is a largish, primarily-freshwater galaxias species found in southern Australia. They are a somewhat tubular, deep-bodied fish, with a dusky brownish-red colouration overlain with dark, haloed spots, d ...
(''Galaxias truttaceus hesperius'') is only found in the
Angove River, the lake and the
Goodga River.
See also
*
List of lakes of Western Australia
The following lists of lakes of Western Australia are arranged alphabetically:
* List of lakes of Western Australia, A–C (plus numerals)
* List of lakes of Western Australia, D–K
* List of lakes of Western Australia, L–P
*List of lakes of ...
References
{{reflist
Angove
Important Bird Areas of Western Australia