Nearest town or city Urana Area 3.02 km² | Established April 1996 (1996-04) Lake type Salt lake | |
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Managing authorities Website Lake Urana Nature Reserve See also Protected areas of
New South Wales Management National Parks and Wildlife Service Similar Gamilaroi Nature Reserve, Bird Island Nature Reserve, Gumbaynggirr State Conserva, Yatteyattah Nature Reserve, Mount Yarrowyck Nature R | ||
The Lake Urana Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve situated adjacent to Lake Urana, a salt lake, that is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The 302-hectare (750-acre) reserve is situated near the rural locality of Urana. The 6,100-hectare (15,000-acre) lake is shallow and intermittently filled by flooding that forms in a natural depression. The lake fills every 10 to 20 years and retains water for several years; with no natural outflow, it is drained via evaporation.
Features
The woodland in the reserve includes yellow box and white cypress pine. Shrubs include thorny saltbush, ruby saltbush, western golden wattle, emu bush, and black cottongrass. Ground cover is made up of grasses and herbs, with over 70 species having been recorded, including wiregrass, speargrass, and nodding chocolate lily. On the shore is a narrow area of red gum woodland.
Fauna includes eastern grey kangaroos, and 37 bird species have been identified. When the lake floods, waterbirds such as wood ducks, Pacific black duck, Australian grey teal, yellow-billed spoonbill, black-fronted dotterel, and magpie larks visit.