After five years of drought, the Minindi Lakes are making a comeback in Australia

For the first time in five years, the Menindi Lakes in Australia are filling up with water. We are talking about nine large shallow depressions blocking the water supply of the cities of Menende and Broken Hill, located about 110 kilometers away, that have long been dry due to the drought that has hit the area hard.

Now managers have “opened the doors” between Lake Pamamaroo and Menindee last April for the first time since 2016. Lake Cawndilla is filling up with water for the first time since 2017 and despite satellite imagery it appears overcrowded, according to Water NSW at the time of that photo, May 14. Last, you haven’t reached 50% of its capacity.

By comparing the images taken by NASA from the Landsat 8 satellite, “The green color in the lakes in the February 2019 image is probably due to the presence of algae and plants, while the milky gray color of the new image is due to sediments suspended in the water on the sea floor precisely because of fullness. Pelvis “, Write from EarthOr.

“The lakes follow a pattern of expansion and contraction, filling up intermittently in the event of heavy rain upstream and then drying up due to the often arid climate. But the prolonged drought has left them nearly dry since 2016. The drought has been particularly noteworthy in 2018-2019. When water shortages contributed to the deaths of a million fish in the lakes. From December 2020 to February 2021, parts of New South Wales experienced the heaviest rains and worst floods in the past six decades. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and several rivers reached flood levels. The floods slowly make their way through the Darling River Baka system to reach the Menindi Lakes.

Water managers expect the two upper lakes to be at full capacity by early June. Water flows to the region are expected to bring more agriculture, fishing and tourism in the coming months.

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