Lake Mulwala, a man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

created through the construction of the Yarrawonga Weir across the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

, is located between and in Hume region of Victoria and in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, in eastern

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

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

was constructed in 1939 to provide water for

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 ...

in the surrounding district. The weir also serves as a crossing of the Murray between the two towns; in addition to the crossing located via the Mulwala Bridge.

Location and features

The road bridge across the lake was built before the lake was filled, commenced in 1917, and completed in 1924. It replaced an earlier wooden bridge built in 1889–1891. The bridge was started from both ends, each by the respective state government. However, they did not coordinate their efforts, and the bridge has a dip and a bend in the middle to make the two ends meet. The Yarrawonga Weir is the farthest downstream obstruction across the Murray that does not have a navigation lock through it. When full, the lake is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The weir is upriver from the

river mouth A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river, a lake/reservoir, a bay/gulf, a sea, or an ocean. At the river mouth, sediments are often deposited due to the slowing of the current, reducing the carryin ...

. Lake Mulwala is a renowned fishery for the native

Murray cod The Murray cod (''Maccullochella peelii'') is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus '' Maccullochella'' in the family Percichthyidae.Dianne J. Bray & Vanessa J. Thompson (2011Murray Cod, Maccullochella peelii Fishes of Au ...

and is one of the few places where this Australian native freshwater fish is still reasonably common.

References

External links

Yarrawonga - Mulwala tourism
Lakes of New South Wales Lakes of Victoria (state) Goulburn Broken catchment Rivers of Hume (region) Murray River River regulation in Australia Riverina Mulwala, New South Wales {{Riverina-geo-stub

Location and features

See also

References

External links