1. Lake George By Luca Jones

2. Lake George Lake George is a fascinating body of water that we see on the way to Canberra next to the Federal Highway. It has interested me so I found out some more information and I would like to share it with you.

3. History The Lake was named on 28 October 1820 for King George III by Governor Macquarie, In the local indigenous language, its name was Werriwa which means "bad water"; even when full, the lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW, almost as salty as seawater. During World War II, a wooden 'dummy' ship was floated on the lake and used for bombing practice by the Royal Australian Air Force

4. Due to the ongoing drought in Australia, Lake George dried out completely in November 2002 and remained so until February 2010 when it started filling. The last time the lake dried out completely was during a severe drought in the 1940s. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers for sheep and cattle.

5. Facts Lake George is an Endorheic lake, which means it has no outflow of water to rivers and oceans. The lake is believed to be more than a million years old and in previous Ice Ages been much larger and deeper.

6. At 25 km long and 10 km wide, Lake George is long, flat and extremely shallow. This means that evaporation and strong winds blow the water back on itself which explains the “mysterious” filling and drying changes. I have noticed that every time I visit Canberra the water level is different.

7. The lake's depth when full can range from 1.5m to 4.5m, however in many areas it is only around 80 centimetres to 1.0 metre deep. Its deepest point has been measured as 7.5 metres. When full, the lake holds about 500,000,000 cubic metres of water. Another interesting site is the Wind Turbines of the “Capital Wind Farm” which is on the shores of Lake George.