Stranger Pond, a series of two

artificial 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 t ...

s sourced from

stormwater Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed lan ...

discharge from urban and rural areas, are located in the Tuggeranong district of

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

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 ...

. One is called 'Upper Stranger Pond' and is located in the suburb of Isabella Plains. The other is called 'Lower Stranger Pond' and is located in the suburb of Bonython. Lower Stranger Pond is widely known simply as 'Stranger Pond'. Google Maps only labels one of the two ponds – that being the one in Bonython and calls it 'Stranger Pond.'

Features

Stranger Pond was created by the construction of a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

in 1989 across a natural drainage channel, coinciding with

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

in the district. The ponds were built as

sediment trap Sediment traps are instruments used in oceanography and limnology to measure the quantity of sinking particulate Organic material, organic (and inorganic) material in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic systems, usually oceans, Lake, lakes, or Reservoir, ...

s for soil and debris, and to improve the quality of the water flowing into the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

. Upper Stranger Pond comprises a surface area of , while Lower Stranger Pond comprises a surface area of . Native wildlife, such as

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s, and

wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are ...

s, can be found in and around Stranger Pond. In the pond,

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

and

redfin Redfin Corporation is an American company that provides residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. Based in Seattle, the company operates in more than 100 markets in the United States and Canada. In 2024, the company h ...

can be caught; carp have been recorded up to and can be caught on corn; redfin can be caught on celtas and small softplastics, as well as flies.

References

External links

eBird Hotspot: Stranger Pond
{{Rivers of the Australian Capital Territory Geography of Canberra Dams completed in 1989 Buildings and structures in Canberra Murray-Darling basin Dams in the Australian Capital Territory Reservoirs in the Australian Capital Territory Artificial lakes of Australia

Features

See also

References

External links