Lakes and reservoirs of Melbourne facts for kids

Jells Lake, Wheelers Hill

Melbourne is a city in south-eastern Australia. Most major lakes are used for recreational purposes, mostly sailing, rowing, canoeing and kayaking, but some are used for activities like water skiing or swimming. Melbourne hosts a number of major water catchment reservoirs that supply the city's water as well as many smaller reservoirs or retarding basins used either for water supply or storm water drainage.

The Yarra River hosts many small lakes and billabongs, particularly through its middle reaches, many of which are not named and are not included here. This article does not include lakes and reservoirs outside of the Greater Melbourne area, for information on other lakes in Victoria see the List of reservoirs and dams in Australia.

Major lakes

• Albert Park Lake - Albert Park
• Aura Vale Lake - Menzies Creek
• Blackburn Lake - Blackburn
• Caribbean Lake - Scoresby
• Carrum Carrum Swamp - South-eastern suburbs (former)
• Cherry Lake - Altona
• Edwardes Lake - Reservoir
• Jells Lake - Wheelers Hill
• Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp - Outer south-eastern suburbs (former)
• Lillydale Lake - Lilydale
• Lysterfield Lake - Lysterfield
• RAAF Lake - Point Cook
• Royal Botanic Gardens Lakes, Melbourne

• Ornamental Lake
• Central Lake
• Nymphaea Lily Lake

• Patterson Lakes - Patterson Lakes

• Schooner Bay
• Barellan Harbours
• Lake Carramar
• Lake Illawong
• Lake Legana

• Sanctuary Lakes - Point Cook
• West Gate Lakes - Port Melbourne

Small lakes & other bodies of water

• Anniversary Lake - Berwick
• Blue Lake - Plenty
• Coburg Lake - Merri Creek at Coburg North
• Greenvale Reservoir Greenvale
• Burndap Lakes - Maribyrnong
• Bushy Park Wetlands - Glen Waverley
• Cairnlea Lake - Cairnlea
• Glen Iris Wetlands - Glen Iris
• Hays Paddock Billabong - Kew East
• Hull Road Wetlands - Lilydale
• Jack Roper Reserve lake - Merlynston Creek at Broadmeadows
• Iramoo Lake - Cairnlea
• Kalparrin Lake - Greensborough
• Karkarook Lake & Wetlands - Heatherton
• Katoomba Lake - Wantirna
• Kew Billabong - Kew East
• Lake Knox
• Lake Treganowan (Emerald Lake) - Emerald
• La Trobe University Lakes - Macleod

• Main Lake
• Small Lake
• Upper Lakes
• Springthorpe Lake
• Sports Fields Lake

• McAlpin Lake - Ringwood North
• Newport Lakes - Newport

• North Lake
• South Lake

• Polishing Ponds - Niddrie
• Queens Park Lake - Moonee Ponds
• Ringwood Lake - Ringwood
• Rowville Lakes - Rowville

• Cogley Lake
• Sutton Lake
• Hill Lake

• Sandown Lake & Dam - Springvale
• Spectacle Lake - Point Cook
• Taylors Lakes - Taylors Lakes
• Valley Lake - Niddrie

Major water catchment reservoirs

Maroondah Reservoir

• Thomson River Dam – 1,068,000 megalitres (2.35×10¹¹ imp gal; 2.82×10¹¹ US gal)
• Cardinia Reservoir, Emerald – 287,000 megalitres (6.3×10¹⁰ imp gal; 7.6×10¹⁰ US gal)
• Upper Yarra Reservoir – 200,000 megalitres (4.4×10¹⁰ imp gal; 5.3×10¹⁰ US gal)
• Sugarloaf Reservoir, Christmas Hills – 96,000 megalitres (2.1×10¹⁰ imp gal; 2.5×10¹⁰ US gal)
• Silvan Reservoir, Silvan – 40,000 megalitres (8.8×10⁹ imp gal; 1.1×10¹⁰ US gal)
• Yan Yean Reservoir – 30,000 megalitres (6.6×10⁹ imp gal; 7.9×10⁹ US gal)
• Greenvale Reservoir, Greenvale – 27,000 megalitres (5.9×10⁹ imp gal; 7.1×10⁹ US gal)
• Maroondah Reservoir – 22,000 megalitres (4.8×10⁹ imp gal; 5.8×10⁹ US gal)
• O'Shannassy Reservoir – 3,000 megalitres (660,000,000 imp gal; 790,000,000 US gal)
• Bittern Reservoir, Tuerong
• Devilbend Reservoir, Tuerong
• Frankston Reservoir, Frankston South

Small reservoirs

• Cheltenham Reservoir, Cheltenham
• CSL Retarding Basin, Glenroy
• Dandenong Reservoir, Belgrave
• Darebin Reservoirs, Reservoir

• Number 1
• Number 2
• Number 3

• Hallam Bypass Retarding Basin & Wetlands, Narre Warren
• Liverpool Road Retarding Basin, Boronia
• Mitcham Reservoir, Mitcham
• Moorabbin Reservoir, Bentleigh East
• Mornington Reservoir, Mount Eliza
• Mt. View Reservoir, Glen Waverley
• Surrey Hills Reservoir, Surrey Hills

Gallery

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  Silvan Reservoir

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  Albert Park Lake

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  Lysterfield Lake

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  Nympheas Lake

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  Jells Lake

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  Patterson Lakes

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  Ornamental Lake

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  Aura Vale Lake Aerial Panorama

Images for kids

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  Albert Park Lake, surrounded by the Grand Prix racetrack