The dry heart of Australia is now awash with water

Water levels at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre 'best' locals have seen Sat 27 Jun 2026 at 5:00am The myth of an inland sea lured 19th century European explorers into the heart of Australia. But where they found only desert, this year it is awash, with water levels at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre now the best some locals have ever seen. In parts of central Australia, it has been one of the wettest years on record. Rains have flooded stations and communities, cut off roads and at times left people stranded. But after years of drought, the rain has brought welcome relief for many. And it is helping feed one of the outback's biggest spectacles. Australia's largest lake, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, is the most full it has been in decades. Northern floodwaters are flowing into the lake for the second year in a row, but this time record-breaking local rainfall has joined the mix. Conditions are reminiscent of 1974, when the lake last reached capacity. Due to the expanse of the lake, tracking water levels can be a challenge, and locals like Trevor Wright provide regular updates on where the water is at. The pilot and unofficial "mayor" of William Creek estimated the lake was at about 80 per cent capacity. He said water levels were already much higher than last year, when floodwaters from south-west Queensland and north-east South Australia made their way to the lake. "It would have to be the best I've ever seen," Mr Wright said. "I don't think you'll see this again for quite a few decades." The Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin is fed by a network of inland creeks and river systems across 1.2 million square kilometres. Rivers like the Georgina, Diamantina and Thomson-Cooper carry floodwater from Queensland and the Northern Territory towards the lake. The latest floodwaters from Queensland are still making their way to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, with Cooper Creek nearly five metres deep in parts, while the Diamantina River level sits at just under two metres at Birdsville. As water makes its way down the channels towards the basin, it leaves a flourishing outback in its wake. "Suddenly it's just all sprung to life," William Creek-based pilotHenry Read-Spinks said. "All the floods up north, coupled with the 240 to 350 millimetres of rain that we've had here in William Creek and the pastoral regions, it's just unbelievable." Bordering the lake, bodies of water litter the Simpson Desert between sand dunes, and camels are contrasted with bright green vegetation. "You're out in the middle of essentially what should be the dead, dry, heart of Australia, and suddenly there's just all this water,"Mr Read-Spinks said. Yankunytjatjara man Bobby Hunter said Kati Thanda was a "pretty mystical" place. "It's perfect to see the sun coming up early in the morning in the winter time. It sort of shimmers across the waves of the water," he said. "It's like a sort of giant seashell. You can hear the quietness." Mr Hunter was 18 the last time the lake reached capacity in 1974. "The water backed up some of those creeks for 20 or more kilometres. I was at one dam, about 14 kilometres up, and camped there one winter night and you could hear the waves lapping against the bank," he said. "It was a good sound, and I haven't never heard it again. "But maybe next year … Anything's possible." Some say it is too soon to tell whether the lake will fill, while others believe another year of rain across South Australia and Queensland would be needed to achieve that outcome. Either way, the outback is basking in the change some rain can bring. "Before the rain, the cattle didn't have much to eat," Mr Hunter said. "They probably were eating dust and living on imagination." About 50km out of Marree, Wilpoorinna Station has had around 330 millimetres of rain this year, 120 of which fell on the same day. "[It was] the biggest rain event that we've ever recorded, when our yearly average is normally about 150," pastoralist Ellen Litchfield told ABC News. Having destocked last year due to devastating drought conditions, stations are bringing livestock back onto the land. "It's really lovely to see everything recovering after a dry period," Ms Litchfield said. "The wildlife has been amazing, we've got these gorgeous big hopping frogs out the front of our place that encase themselves in the clay and they've just gone wild with all of the rain. "It's very, very rare that it looks this good." Credits Reporting: Isabella Kelly and Leah MacLennan Photography: Che Chorley Sat 27 Jun 2026 at 5:00am - Share options - Copy link - X (formerly Twitter)