The Cardross Lakes are an

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

system located approximately south-west of

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

, in the Mallee region of Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The lakes are notable for being the only known occurrence within Victoria of the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon ''( Mogurnda adspersa)'', discovered in 1995,Inland Waters Theme Report
''Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts'',

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

. Retrieved 4 April 2008 believed to be extinct in Victoria since the 1930s. The Murray hardyhead (''Craterocephalus fluviatilis'') can be found in the Cardross Basin."Protecting the Murray Hardyhead"
Riverspace, 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2017.

References

Lakes of Victoria (state) Mallee catchment Rivers of Loddon Mallee (region) Mildura {{Mallee-geo-stub