Lake Flannigan

Lake Flannigan is a natural fresh water lake on King Island (Tasmania), situated four kilometres south of the Cape Wickham Lighthouse, in the northern locality of Wickham.

It is the largest body of water on the island. The size of the lake fluctuates significantly. In times of sustained high rainfall the length can reach almost 2 kilometres (1.2 miles), and its width in some parts can be up to 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles). The area of the lake is usually in the region of 150 hectares (approximately 370 acres).

The floor of the lake lies 15.25 metres (50 feet) above sea-level. Reports of the depth of the water vary widely from 9.1 metres (30 feet) in 1887 to 2 metres (6.67 feet) in 2007 after a period of severe drought coupled with the previous mis-direction of drainage into the lake.

The lake is visible from Springs Road to the south, and Cape Wickham Road to the east.

The lake is surrounded by private farmland but is itself Crown land; part of its south eastern shore is classified as "Public Reserve".

Jennings explains that geologically the lake is classed as "a complex dune barrage lake” (Jennings, 1957, p. 62). The water in the lake drains underground to The Springs, 1.3 kilometres (0.8 miles) to the west on the coast. Water levels in the lake are affected by its complex geology, including calcareous and quartz sands, granite hills and dune formations. Natural processes, such as waves on the lake and storm winds contribute to erosion, which in turn impacts water levels.

Since Michael John Flannigan wrote his first survey report about the island in 1896, the lake has been acknowledged as being in need of some degree of government protection. Flannigan foresaw that "if the frontages of these lakes [Bob and Egg Lagoons and Big Lake] are blocked by settlers it will be detrimental to the balance of the country" (Flannigan, 1896, page 4).

The lake shores were first gazetted as a reserve in 1913, when the Tasmanian Government Gazette officially announced the creation of a sanctuary for wild fowl fringing the lake. But in July 1921 the King Island News published a letter from the government surveyor, KM Harrisson, expressing his concern that the Tasmanian Animals' and Birds' Protection Act 1919 would remove the previously gazetted sanctuary. However, he may have been misinformed, since the shores of the lake were protected under the Lands Act of 1911, and not under the Game Protection Act, 1907 or its successor the Animals' and Birds' Protection Act, 1919, which dealt with species not places.

...
Wikipedia