Lake Albert

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Introduction

Lake Albert (adjacent to Lake Alexandrina) is important not only from an ecological perspective, but also from recreational, agricultural and economic viewpoints. Agricultural industries and towns along the lakeside extract water for a wide variety of purposes.

Similarly to Lake Alexandrina, Lake Albert is shallow, well mixed by prevailing winds, and relatively turbid and saline. It is connected to Lake Alexandrina by a narrow channel near Narrung. Besides water from the River Murray, there are no other significant freshwater inflows, so water quality is mostly influenced by the River Murray. In particular the irrigated farming in the Lower Murray region is likely to add a large nutrient load to the lake >> More. Due to the narrow connection, there is limited water exchange in Lake Albert. Turbidity, nutrients, bacteria and salinity are the major issues affecting the lake's ecosystem, recreational and agricultural values.

Nutrient inputs promote blooms of non-toxic algae and micro-crustaceans. Blooms of toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) occur regularly for substantial periods and the water is often unusable during this time. Blooms are linked to the availability of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, and warm weather conditions.

The site at Meningie is on the south-eastern edge of the lake. Comparable monitoring sites are on Lake Alexandrina are at Goolwa, Poltalloch Plains and at Milang.

The Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation provides a daily update of the water level and electrical conductivity (EC). >> More

>> More information on lakes in South Australia

Water quality assessment

Water quality samples in Lake Albert at Meningie are collected monthly. The indicators that are measured are nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), turbidity, bacteria and salinity. The concentrations of these indicators are used to classify the water quality as being in good, moderate or poor condition, according to the needs of aquatic ecosystem protection and recreational environmental values. >> More

Water quality classification April to September 2006

Indicator	Ecosystem	Recreational
Oxidised Nitrogen	Good	NA
Total Nitrogen	Poor	NA
Soluble Phosphorus	Good	NA
Total Phosphorus	Moderate	NA
Turbidity	Moderate	Poor
Bacteria	NA	Moderate

The poor turbidity means that visibility is low, which can increase the risk of bathing accidents. It also makes water look less appealing for swimming. Turbidity tends to increase when clay and silt are re-suspended from the lake sediments because of mixing caused by the windy conditions across this region. It can also increase because of a high algal population.

Nitrogen levels continue to be elevated, consistent with previous results. The main sources of the nitrogen are likely to be fertilisers or animal wastes being washed off farms during storms. The chlorophyll (a) level in the lake is frequently high, normally corresponding with large algal blooms in the lake. Algal blooms tend to use soluble phosphorus rapidly to grow, so phosphorus levels are low. This is particularly the case during warmer months. There is no guideline for chlorophyll (a) in rivers or lakes, although the data are available as a graph and as raw data.

The bacterial (Enterococci) levels in Lake Albert at Meningie were also elevated for recreational uses (swimming and incidental contact during boating activities). This was probably due to a combination of the local water bird population, livestock near the lake and discharges from the local township.

The South Australian Department of Health has useful information on the safe use of recreational waters.

The salinity in Lake Albert has been increasing in recent years due to evaporation and reduced fresh water flows entering the lake.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

• Oxidised nitrogen in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Total nitrogen in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Total phosphorus in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Soluble phosphorus in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Turbidity in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Chlorophyll (a) in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Salinity in Lake Albert at Meningie
• Bacteria in Lake Albert at Meningie

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for Lake Albert at Meningie

What is being done to improve the condition of Lake Albert

South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board is also developing strategies for improving water quality in the River Murray and Lower Lakes. >> More

The EPA has developed a Code of Practice for Vessel & Facility management: Marine and Inland Waters. This code should help recreational and commercial boat operators to reduce environmental impacts from their boating activities.

To address pollution from upstream sources, the EPA and a number of other agencies have conducted a catchment risk assessment for water quality for the River Murray and Lower Lakes. >> Report

Reports

River Murray and Lower Lakes catchment risk assessment for water quality
	Introduction and methods (960KB PDF)
	Results and management options
		Acknowledgements, Definitions, Abbreviations, Executive Summary & Introduction (327KB PDF)
		Renmark to border LAP area assessment (400KB PDF)
		Berri–Barmera and Loxton–Bookpurnong LAP areas assessment (450KB PDF)
		Riverland West LAP area assessment (526KB PDF)
		Mid Murray LAP area assessment (577KB PDF)
		Mannum to Wellington LAP area assessment (580KB PDF)
		Goolwa to Wellington and Coorong District LAP areas assessment (1329KB PDF)
		Summary of risk assessment results, Risk management options & References and data sources (212KB PDF)
Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert-Report No 1 (490KB PDF)

This page was last modified 14-04-2009