Editing Lake Eyre (section)

==Floods==
[[File:Eyre lake map of the shape and depth (bathymetry) 2020.jpg|thumb|Map of the shape and depth (bathymetry) of the Eyre lake, 2020]]
Typically a {{convert|1.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} flood occurs every three years, a {{convert|4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} flood every decade, and a fill or near fill a few times a century. The water in the lake soon evaporates, with a minor or medium flood drying by the end of the following summer. Most of the water entering the lakes arrives via [[Warburton River]].<ref name="lhlrr"/> 1974 was the largest recorded historical lake filling in nearly 200 years.<ref name="aibm">{{cite journal |last1=Leon |first1=J.X. |last2=Cohen |first2=T.J. |date=1 November 2012 |title=An improved bathymetric model for the modern and palaeo Lake Eyre |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X12002681 |journal=Geomorphology |volume=173–174 |pages=69-79 |doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.05.029 |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref>

In strong [[La Niña]] years, the lake can fill. Since 1885, this has occurred in 1886–1887, 1889–1890, 1916–1917, [[1950 Australian rainfall records|1950]], 1955, 1974–1977,<ref>{{cite book|last=Allan|first=Robert J.|title=The Australasian Summer Monsoon, Teleconnections, and Flooding in the Lake Eyre Basin|year=1985|publisher=[[Royal Geographical Society of Australasia]]|isbn=0-909112-09-6|issn=0811-6504}}</ref> and 1999–2001,<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/2000/|title=BIG WET PRODUCES COOLEST YEAR SINCE 1984|publisher=[[Bureau of Meteorology]]|date=3 January 2001|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref> with the highest flood of {{convert|6|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in 1974. Local rain can also fill Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre to {{convert|3|–|4|m|ft|abbr=on}}, as occurred in 1984 and 1989. Torrential rain in January 2007 took about six weeks to reach the lake but only placed a small amount of water into it.<ref name ="ABC8March2007">{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-03-08/lake-eyre-flooding-attracts-yachting-club-interest/2211856|title=Lake Eyre flooding attracts yachting club interest|agency=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|date=7 March 2007|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref>

When recently flooded, the lake is almost fresh, and native freshwater fish, including [[bony bream]] (''Nematolosa erebi''), the Lake Eyre Basin sub-species of [[golden perch]] (''Macquaria ambigua'') and various small [[Craterocephalus|hardyhead]] species (''Craterocephalus'' spp.) can survive in it.

===2009 to 2011===
[[File:STS035-502-4.jpg|thumb|right|Lake Eyre in 1990, as seen from the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']]]]
The 2009 Lake Eyre flood peaked at {{convert|1.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} deep in late May, which is a quarter of its maximum recorded depth of {{convert|6|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. {{convert|9|km3|cumi|0|abbr=on}} of water crossed the Queensland–South Australian border with most of it coming from massive floods in the [[Georgina River]]. However, owing to the very low rainfall in the lower reaches of these rivers (contrasting with heavy rainfall in the upper catchments),<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/annual_sum/2009/AnClimSum09_HR1.1.pdf|title=Annual Climate Summary 2009|publisher=[[Bureau of Meteorology]]|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref> the greater proportion soaked into the desert or evaporated en route to the lake, leaving less than {{convert|4|km3|cumi|abbr=on}} in the lake, which covered an area of {{convert|800|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}, or 12% of the total. As the flood did not start filling the lake's deepest point (Belt Bay) until late March, little bird life appeared, preferring instead to nest in the upper reaches of the Lake Eyre Basin, north of [[Birdsville]], where large lakes appeared in January as a result of monsoonal rain.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

The high rainfall in summer 2010 sent flood water into the [[Diamantina River|Diamantina]], [[Georgina River|Georgina]] and [[Cooper Creek]] catchments of the Lake Eyre basin, with the Cooper Creek reaching the lake for the first time since 1990. The higher rainfall prompted many different birds to migrate back to the area for breeding.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lake Eyre floods again|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515222926/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/lake-eyre-floods-again.htm/|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/lake-eyre-floods-again.htm/|archive-date=15 May 2013|date=15 July 2010|last=Baker|first=Rebecca|website=[[Australian Geographic]]}}</ref>

Heavy local rain in early March 2011 in the Stuart Creek and Warriner catchments filled Lake Eyre South, with Lake Eyre North about 75 per cent covered with water firstly from the [[Neales River|Neales]] and [[Macumba River|Macumba]] Rivers, and later from the [[Warburton River]].<ref>{{cite news|date=8 March 2011|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-03-09/flooding-and-storms-fill-outback-lake/2663296|title=Flooding and storms fill outback lake|agency=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref>

=== 2015 to 2016 ===
In late 2015, water began flowing into Lake Eyre following heavy rain in the north-east of the state.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lake Eyre begins filling with water after South Australian outback gets soaking rains|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-02/lake-eyre-begins-filling-with-water-after-soaking-rains/7064248|last=Opie|first=Rebecca|agency=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|date=1 January 2016|access-date=28 March 2023|language=en-AU}}</ref>

===2019===

In late March 2019, floodwaters began arriving as a result of torrential rains in [[northern Queensland]] in January. In the past, the water had taken anywhere from three to 10 months to reach the lake, but this time it arrived in two. The first flooding would be closely followed by another surge, following rains produced by [[2018–19 Australian region cyclone season#Severe Tropical Cyclone Trevor|Cyclone Trevor]]. [[Traditional owners]] and graziers agree that it is essential that the river run its course and should not be harvested during floods, as any interference in the natural systems could damage the [[ecosystem]].<ref name=ABCflood>{{cite news|agency=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-09/lake-eyre-is-a-wild-river-system-left-to-run-its-course/11035506|title=Lake Eyre in Central Australia is filling in a way not seen for 45 years|series=''[[7.30]]''|last=Schwartz|first=Dominique|author-link=Dominique Schwartz|date=21 May 2019|orig-date=Originally published 8 May 2019|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref>

=== 2025 ===
{{As of|2025|April|11}} it was predicted that floodwaters from Queensland in late March, combined with local rainfall pre-filling parts of the lake, would result in the lake reaching its deepest levels in 15 years some time around late May to June.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |author=Saunders, Tom  |date=11 April 2025 |title=Floodwaters to create Australia's largest lake in 15 years |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-12/floodwaters-kati-thanda-lake-eyre-water-fill-largest-lake/105157580 |access-date=19 April 2025 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> Upstream river levels have been higher than in previous flood events, with [[Birdsville]] reaching {{convert|8.75|m}} on Wednesday 9&nbsp;April (higher than the 8.15 m in 2019), and [[Windorah]] recording flood levels approaching 1974s heights, that being Australia's wettest year on record.<ref name=":0" />