Corangamite Basin
BIRD: linking the biodiversity community
Kuruc-A-Ruc Creek near Rokewood.
The landlocked Corangamite Basin drains a substantial part of south-western Victoria, from near Ballarat in the north to the area around Colac and Camperdown in the south, an area of 4188 square kilometres. To the east, the basin is bordered by the Leigh River Catchment (itself part of the Barwon Basin), to the west by the Hopkins Basin.
Streams within the basin flow generally southward towards a complex of shallow landlocked lakes, several of them very large, and many of them saline. Although these lie about 40 metres above sea level, the Otway Ranges stand between the basin and the coast. There is no natural outlet to the sea. However some of the basin's water is diverted into the Barwon Basin by the Woady Yaloak Diversion Scheme and the Lough Calvert Drainage Scheme.
The largest stream in the basin is the Woady Yaloak River. The Woady rises west of Ballarat and north of Haddon, and flows south towards Cressy, being joined by the Narunghil, Kuruc-A-Ruc, Mt Misery, and Ferrers Creeks. In 1959, after a series of wet years, a 38 kilometre channel was constructed near Cressy to divert part of the Woady's flow into Warrambine Creek, a tributary of the Barwon River. South of Cressy, the Woady Yaloak empies into Lake Martin, which in turn connects to Lake Corangamite.
West of the Woady Yaloak, Gnarkeet Chain of Ponds leads due south to Lake Corangamite, and Mundy Gully Creek flows into Lake Gnarpurt. Pirron Yallock Creek flows into the southern end of Lake Corangamite. In the southeast of the basin, Lake Colac is fed by the northward-flowing Deans and Barongarook Creeks.
The southern half of the Corangamite Basin has a distinctive and complex geology. The underlying sedimentary basin, mostly Pliocene, has a history of subsidence. In many places, however, relatively recent volcanic activity has produced large patches of richer volcanic soil, and a scattering of extinct volcanic cones, some of them several hundred metres high. Most of the district, however, is flat.
In consequence, the drainage pattern is confused and the area is dominated by lakes, ranging from the very large Lake Corangamite through a number of other large lakes, to the many hundreds of smaller water bodies. Most are saline, some fresh, some hyper-saline.
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