Water in Lake Eyre as Queensland floods could fill Outback attraction Lake Eyre for first time since 1974

A rare natural event at Australia’s largest inland lake in SA is on track to break a 50-year record and it’s turning the world’s eyes to the state. Watch the video.

Water has started flowing into Australia’s largest inland lake amid predictions floodwaters could see levels reach highs not seen for more than 50 years.

Outback pilot Phil van Wegen captured the moment water started flowing into Lake Eyre’s northern Warburton inlet from the Diamantina catchment area.

Mr van Wegen, owner and chief pilot at Maree-based Arid Air, said water in the Warburton Creek water was already two or three kilometres inside the lake’s edge but the best was yet to come as an inland sea of floodwater from Queensland made its way across the Outback.

Queensland flood waters running into Lake Eyre. Picture: Arid Air

“There’s squillions of birds up there right now,” Mr van Wegen said. “You get thousands of birds in the headwater because there’s thousands of fish and things get pushed in with that headwater.

“We get literally thousands of birds just sitting in the tip of that water and having a feast.”

Water from the Diamantina River flows into Lake Eyre’s Warburton inlet most years but experts predict water from Cooper Creek will soon flow into the lake for the first time since 2011 and the usually dry salt lake could reach, or even surpass, record levels of 1974.

Fellow Outback pilot Trevor Wright said he had been flying in the Outback for more than 30 years and had never seen so much water.

“It’s like a sea of water,” he said. “I think Lake Eyre is going to have a huge fill, given the amount of water that’s behind it and how far up into Queensland it still goes.

Cooper Creek system flowing with Queensland floodwater. Picture: Trevor Wright

“It’s going to be the biggest we’ve seen in years, there’s no doubt about it. I don’t want to oversell it but I know it’s going to be great.

“Environmentally it’s going to be great and from a tourist perspective, the amount of people who are looking at coming up during school holidays or looking at doing bus trips is probably the biggest I’ve seen in my 30 years out there.”

Mr Wright said he expected water from the Cooper Creek catchment area would flood the Birdsville Track in the next few weeks before eventually flowing into the eastern side of Lake Eyre in four to six weeks. He expected water to remain in Lake Eyre until at least Christmas.

Queensland floodwater adjacent to Moomba. Picture: Trevor Wright

Dramatic skies and reflections over the floodwaters of the Warburton and Kallakoopah. Picture: Trevor Wright

Mr Wright said tourists flocking to see water in the lake would provide a “huge” economic fillip for SA. he had already fielded a query from a family in Switzerland who were planning to fly out and see what he is predicting to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

National Parks and Wildlife Service Outback district ranger Travis Gotch said the peak of the flooding along the Cooper Creek was higher than it had been in 1974 but the volume was less.

“Because there was significantly more rain pre and post-peak in ‘74 than there was with this one,” Mr Gotch said.

“Everything’s going down at Cooper Creek, but there’s a lot to wet, so it’ll be nice and slow, but come June, I reckon, we’re going to have it see some decent water start to get into the lake, and it could stay there maybe six months.”

Mr Gotch said by July there would be colonies of pelicans forming on the Outback lake system and urged anyone who had the opportunity to fly over it to do so.

But he said anyone planning on flying private planes over the lake should contact one of the commercial operators to get up to speed with necessary safety precautions.

Mr Gotch said four-wheel drive enthusiasts could still enter the Simpson Desert from the west but they needed to take enough fuel to get back out on the same route because it was no longer possible to get through to the desert’s eastern edge.

The floods are the result of intense rain in south western Queensland in March, in which some areas received more than 600 millimetres within a week – more than the annual average.

Originally published as Water in Lake Eyre as Queensland floods could fill Outback attraction Lake Eyre for first time since 1974