Rare flooding event creates striking oasis in the outback

Saturday, 17 May 2025 07:33

Floodwaters are causing one of the country's rarest events in outback South Australia.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is a dry salt bed in the lowest point in Australia, sitting 15 metres below sea level, and covers about 9500 square kilometres.

But record levels of inundation from south-west Queensland and north-east parts of the state are beginning to fill up the salt lake for the fourth time in 160 years.

"In these extraordinary years when the lake is full, the outback offers something unique," SA Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said.

"This year, I have been told by William Creek locals that we will likely see the most significant fill of the lake since 1974."

The rising water levels will rejuvenate the lake's crust and attract a variety of species as far as China and Japan to the area.

"When the waters rise, a huge variety of species, many of them rare, spring to life or are attracted to the lake," Environment SA said.

"Brine shrimp hatch from eggs in the dry soil, millions of waterbirds and breeding birds from as far as China and Japan migrate to the lake, and fish that are in the floodwaters will spawn and eat the shrimp."

The event is expected to also entice campers and photographers to the area.

Water levels will rise from early May and vary until October.

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