Lake Tyers How Deep? 2010

Archive 2010:

How much water is in Lake Tyers?

How deep, or what is the lake level at? It is relatively difficult to say what the level of a small-ish lake is when there there is no "mean tide" level to work against. So what ever is given here is just general advice and needs to be qualified by any local experience you can glean when visiting.
4 December 2010: We we have had the extra 30-40mm in bursts over the last week. Central Victoria actually had flash flooding at the same time. The lake appears to have risen, though the water still only appears to be at the bottom of the lower horizontals at the bottom of the wooden jetty. Surface temperatures around the lake are around the 17-18 degrees, and higher in local patches. There appeared to be plenty of rain north of us in the catchment area, so maybe the run off will push it up over the next week or so.
27th November 2010: Some good patches of rain (20-30mm each) have lifted the level of the lake a bit, the water is currently just touching the bottom of the lower horizontal beams on the wooden jetty. The large sandy areas in front of the Tavern are not covered yet, though the area of water has definitely increased and has made boating and fishing much more enjoyable. Another 40-60cm would be ideal, but unlikely no that spring is nearly over.
1st November 2010: We have had about 15 to 25 mm at Lake Tyers Beach depending on who one talks to. What is indisputable is the lake has risen significantly. The photgraphic evidence is below. The water is lapping at the lower cross beams on the jetty. What we need for summer is for the Lake to remian high, but not that high that the Nowa Nowa contingency (who's properties go under water if it gets too high), don't come down and dig it through and empty it again and bugger up the fishing for another three years.
17th October 2010: The surrounding country side has had a bit of a torrent of rain falling. Hard to say exactly (depending on where you measure it) but around the 40-60mm range, and good solid rain, that has lifted the lake well above previous levels. If this warms up then the Bream will be getting adventurous and Flathead hungry. So book your spot at the car park at number 2 Ramp, as the good times are about to roll...... Tell your friends you have heard it here!!!!

Just a bit of history, I found this photo taken by my brother of the LTB #2 Jetty in September 2006. Just about right height?

20 September 2010 - Little more has flowed in and a little of the recent gains has disappeared already. There is a build up of healthy algae around the edges. This green filamentous algae is seasonal and forms mats near the edge and provides good shelter and feeding grounds for the very small fish fry our lake's stock grow from. (Brick Level= 72) About the same as this time last year.

25 August 2010 - Even more follow up rain last week and the lake has really gone up. Some where near 20mm to 30mm. For those of you who know the lake, the fifth segment on the floating jetty is now floating and anywhere near or above this height is good news. The strip of shore between the Tavern and Number 2 Boat Ramp is only just wide enough to walk on, and is a scramble at one place.

17 August 2010 - Large amount of rain last weekend and the level of the lake has risen significantly. Not sure how much fell as my rain guage died on me on Saturday morning when I was in Melbourne and when I had returned the rain band had well and truly passed. The BOM site has the mount Nowa Nowa readings at about 110mm for this part of the month. Quite a bit though not all of that may have strictly been in the Lake Tyers catchment.

20 June 2010 - Very little improvement in the amount of water in the lake. Recent heavy rains appear to have amounted to only a small rise in the lake. The level is only slightly above its very low status. Boat ramps are usable but the area of water near the southern end is restricting boating with large shallow sand flats and bank anglers will find shallow water on the edges as well. The rest of the lake is quite navigable.

27th March 2010 - Any rainfull we have had has not lifted the lake level and it remains about as low as it gets. So large parts of the southern "lake" area are taken up with very shallow flat areas. However the water is healthy and the Bream are biting, so all is not bad, maybe they will have less places to hide!!! The sandbar between the lake and the ocean is quite extensive.

19th December 2009 - Rains have not lifted the lake at all, check this photo and see what you think.

22 November 2009 - We have had some rain and the Lake has filled a bit more, but barely enough to cover the evaporation during the above average hot days.

23 October 2009 - The lake is now about 150mm above my lower marker point. So the recent rains have contributed to a rise, especially those in the upper head waters of the Scrubby Creek. In-flow over the sand bar from the ocean may have also contributed during recent heavy winds from the south and seasonal high tides.

5th October 2009 - The lake is now about 65mm above the bottom end of the deepest slab on Number 1 boat ramp. We have had about 30+mm of rain over the last few days.

12 September 2009 - The lake has risen to about 30mm of water above the end of the boat ramp#1 and after about 17mm of rainfall over the last three weeks.

5th March 2009 - We have had some heavy downpours of rain (some about 30-40mm) but no real change in the lake level. For some reason (I believe leakage under the sandbar) there has been no appreciable increase in height. My lower markers have been covered by silt from the recent run off.

The other marker that I use, and maybe others do too, is the height of the water at the jetty next to the floating Number 2 Boat Ramp. The above picture will give you the idea of the deep, or how much water the Lake is currently holding. The lower part of the jetty was under water when the lake was illegally opened last year. So we have a little way to go before we get back to anywhere near that.

Some views of the upper levels of Lake Tyers around June 2007 floods.
Within a few days along came a storm and the water had burst of of the lake, see Openings for more photos.

Moored at the Tavern Car Park

The water is very clear in August 2009 and looking very healthy, but still not ideal for the fishing. All this algae has disappeared with no ill effects (Dec2009)
Algae Lake Tyers

There is usually a bit of algae around at this time of year, but it is just being piled up by the wind, and is not a toxic bloom, but healthy green strands of algae near the shore. It may smell a bit if it dies. At the moment it is probably providing good cover and feed for the smaller animals in the food chain.

Plea: If there is some other place or method you can suggest measuring how much water is in the lake then let me know by email. Cheers!