Kerang Lakes Ramsar site – Ramsar Information Sheet
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About the document
Ramsar Information Sheets provide information on wetlands that have been designated under the Ramsar Convention as Wetlands of International Importance. A Ramsar Information Sheet includes information on wetland types, ecology, land uses, threats, hydrological values and maps for the site.
The Kerang Wetlands Ramsar Site is located in northern Victoria approximately 300 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. The site comprises 23 named lakes, marshes and swamps which vary in area, depth and salinity on the lower reaches of the Avoca and Loddon Rivers and the Pyramid Creek near the town of Kerang. The site supports eight Ramsar wetland types. It is dominated by permanent and intermittent freshwater lakes but also includes a significant area of permanent and intermittent saline lakes.
Approximately six decades before the time of listing in 1982, some wetlands within the Ramsar site were modified from their pre-European state to store water for irrigation. The water supply to these permanent freshwater wetlands is regulated. Some intermittent freshwater wetlands are managed for conservation purposes but also have a regulated water supply due to the legacy of changes to natural flow paths associated with irrigation development. Five saline wetlands are managed as salt disposal basins to reduce salt loads entering the Murray River. The remaining wetlands are not regulated. Water depths in the site's wetlands vary from very shallow, i.e. less than 1 meter, to in excess of 8 meters. Kangaroo Lake is the deepest lake at 8.4 meters.
The variety of salinity and water regimes within the site results in a diversity of wetland vegetation communities including black box, river red gum, tangled lignum, chenopod shrubland, grassland, sedgeland, aquatic herbland and reed beds. The wetlands support an abundance and diversity of waterbirds and over 50 species have been recorded breeding within the site.