Lake Colac

Lake Colac is a large freshwater lake in western Victoria, Australia. The town of Colac is built along the south shore of the lake. Lake Colac has an area of 1,820 hectares, an average depth of 2.5 metres and a circumference of 33 km. The area was the home of the Kolijon (or Coladjin) people. The name Colac comes from either the word Kolijon, or their word kolak which means the lake's sand or fresh water.

Lake Colac
Lake Colac with historically low water levels
Location	Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	38°18′S 143°35′E
Lake type	FreshWater
Primary  inflows	Barongarook Creek
Basin  countries	Australia
Max. width	1820 hectares
Average depth	2.5 metres
Max. depth	3.0 metres
Settlements	Colac

A postcard showing Lake Colac with water

Facilities

The lake is used for watersport, including sailing, rowing and water skiing. The foreshore has a playground and a boat ramp. The Colac Botanical Gardens are next to the lake.

History

In January 2009, the lake dried up after years of drought. Water enters the lake from Barongarook Creek, but the lake usually loses more water through evaporation. The lake needs to get water from rain falling directly over it to keep up a high level. Water quality in Lake Colac is low because of nutrients, such as phosphorous and nitrogen entering the lake. This has come from farms and untreated sewerage. There has also been chemicals and rubbish from the town of Colac. These can cause blue-green algae to grow in the lake which makes the water unsafe for humans or animals. There have been efforts made to improve water quality by stopping these nutrients from getting into the lake.

The lake has redfin, eels and carp, and in 2013 it was proposed to put estuary perch into the lake.