Alexandrina, Lake

Lake Alexandrina, estuarine lagoon, southeastern South Australia, 45 miles (70 km) southeast of Adelaide. Together with contiguous Lake Albert and the long, narrow lagoon called The Coorong, it forms the mouth of the Murray River. About 23 miles (37 km) long and 13 miles (21 km) wide, the lake has a total surface area of 220 square miles (570 square km). The lake was visited by sealers in 1828 and crossed in 1830 by the explorer Charles Sturt, who named it after Princess Alexandrina (later Queen Victoria). Lake Alexandrina evoked early interest as a possible maritime outlet for the Murray River, but shallow depths (5 to 15 feet [1.5 to 4.5 metres]) and a treacherous sandbar and islands at its seaward approach have precluded such development. Milang, a vegetable and dairy centre on the lake’s western shore, did thrive as a river port until the completion of the railroad in 1884. Five barrages built across the lake’s exits in 1940 prevent the intrusion of seawater upstream; and, as freshness increases, irrigated agriculture is developing along the lake’s shores. The Murray-Darling river system has a low discharge rate (a fraction of the rate of the Nile River), and its exit to the sea is increasingly uncertain. Part of the estuarine district was declared a Wetland of International Importance in 1985 under the Ramsar Convention.