History
The Lake was named on 28 October 1820 for King George III by Governor Macquarie, who was touring the area as part of a Royal Commission to inquire into the condition of the Colony. It was first discovered by Joseph Wild on 19 August 1820. In the local indigenous language, its name was Werriwa (originally spelled Weereewa in the journals of the explorers who noted the name), which means "bad water"; even when full, the lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW, almost as saline as seawater.
A large and beautiful billabong existed at the swampy Bungendore end of the lake, and in the 1850s was stocked with Murray cod fished out of the Molonglo River. At some time the billabong overflowed and introduced Murray cod into the lake; they bred rapidly and from the 1850s to the 1890s Lake George abounded with Murray cod. A small fishing trawler trawled the lake for the cod. The Federation Drought commenced in the mid 1890s, and by 1902 the lake dried out completely. In their search for water to survive in, the Murray cod flocked into the few small creek mouths feeding the lake and were killed by the thousands. The original billabong has long since been drained.
In the early 1900s an area immediately to the east of the lake was surveyed as a possible site for the Capital city of Australia. Instead, the Australian Capital Territory and city of Canberra were established some 30 km (19 mi) south-west of the lake.
During World War II, a wooden 'dummy' ship was floated on the lake and used for bombing practice by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is possible that there is still unexploded ordnance settled into the lake bed.
On 8 July 1956 five cadets from the Royal Military College, Duntroon drowned in a yachting accident.
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, although it was partially dry in 1986, leaving large pools of water. When the lake is empty it is used by farmers to graze sheep and cattle.
The unusual fluctuations in the lake's levels have given rise to fanciful urban myths that the lake is somehow connected to lakes in Peru or South Africa, although NSW government ecologist Justin Nancarrow theorises that the lake may indeed be connected to the nearby Yass River by subterranean aquifers which pass under the surrounding escarpment, and that this connection may explain the salinity of the river.
Read more about this topic: Lake George (New South Wales)
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