Canberra
1.4 Lakes and wetlands

Supporting Information

This line item represents the volume of water held in lakes and wetlands connected to the surface water store within the Canberra region.

These lakes are used primarily for recreation, conservation and aesthetic purposes, and are not formally associated with the urban water supply system. However, water can be abstracted or released to maintain environmental flows and for small-scale irrigation.

The volume provided is a sum of the volumes held in the storages in the Canberra region. Specific details of storages are provided in the following table.

The volume of water held in the lakes in the Canberra region
Storage name Full supply level (mAHD) Volume at full supply level (ML)
Lake Burley Griffin NA 33,000
Lake Ginninderra 577.27 3,700
Lake Tuggeranong 567.89 1,800
Total   38,500

mAHD = metres above Australian Height Datum; NA = data not available.

Quantification Approach

Data Source

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government Department of Climate Change Energy and Water (The predecessor of the ACT Government's Environmental and Sustainable Development Directorate), Energy and Water: Hydstra database, maintained by Ecowise Australia Pty Ltd. These data were provided for the 2010 Account.

Provided by

ACT Government Department of Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water.

Method

No storage volume or level information was available for any of the lakes or wetlands within the Canberra region. However, the capacity of these lakes and wetlands is known. Therefore, the total storage within the lakes and wetlands was estimated based on the assumption that these waterbodies were full at the start and end of the reporting period.

Assumptions, Limitations, Caveats and Approximations

  • Water levels in Lake Ginninderra and Lake Tuggeranong are generally managed within 200 mm of full supply level throughout the year. Therefore, the estimated storage volumes of these lakes is considered to be only slightly overestimated.
  • At present, abstraction from Lake Ginninderra and Lake Tuggeranong is limited to volumes that would have negligible effect on the volume of the lakes (<50 ML).
  • The capacity of Lake Burley Griffin is based on survey data collected at the time of construction and fill in 1964.

Uncertainty Information

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.

Comparative year

This volume was reported in line item 1.4 Lakes and wetlands—connected in the 2010 account.