| Lake Argyle | |
|---|---|
 Lake Argyle seen from space, August 1985. The main channel of the Ord River (dark, meandering feature) north of the lake is visible as it drains northward, eventually emptying into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. Low, folded mountains can be identified east and west of this river valley. | |
  Lake Argyle Location in Western Australia | |
| Location | near Kununurra East Kimberley, Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 16°20′08″S 128°44′37″E / 16.3355°S 128.7435°E |
| Type | Freshwater reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Ord River, Bow River |
| Primary outflows | Ord River |
| Catchment area | 46,100 km2 (17,800 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| First flooded | 1971 |
| Max. length | 67 kilometres (42 mi) |
| Max. width | 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) |
| Surface area | 703 km2 (271 sq mi) |
| Water volume | 10,763 gigalitres (8.726×106 acre⋅ft; 2.582 cu mi)[1] |
| Website | www |
| References | Water Corporation[1] |
| |
| Official name | Lakes Argyle and Kununurra |
| Designated | 7 June 1990 |
| Reference no. | 478[2] |
Lake Argyle is Western Australia's largest and Australia's second largest[3] freshwater man-made reservoir by volume. The reservoir is part of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and is located near the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. The lake flooded large parts of the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley on the Kimberley Plateau about 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, close to the border with the Northern Territory.
The primary inflow is the Ord River, while the Bow River and many other smaller creeks also flow into the dam.[4] The lake is a DIWA-listed wetland.[5] Lake Argyle and Lake Kununurra were listed in 1990 as Ramsar Convention protected wetlands.[6] Argyle mine was previously situated here from 1985 until November 2020 following several years of discoveries and yielded 865 million carats of diamonds.
- ^ a b "Statewide Dam Storage – Argyle Dam (Ord River)". Water Corporation. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ "Lakes Argyle and Kununurra". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Largest Waterbodies". Geoscience Australia. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ Public Works Department (1982). Lake Argyle (PDF) (Map). 1:30,000. Department of Transport, Government of Western Australia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ "Search for a Nationally Important Wetland". 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ "Australian Ramsar Sites - Lake Argyle and Kununurra". 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.