18/02/2026
A great update on the latest inflows into Lake Eyre. Thanks very much ARID AIR
18/2/2026 After more than 150 mm of local rain across the Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre catchment, the Neales River has become a key driver in the current rise of the lake. A tributary of Lake Eyre, the Neales is delivering inflow into the basin.
Flow is now concentrating into the Warburton Groove, a distinctive north–south oriented geomorphic feature that extends approximately 90 km across the lake bed toward Dulhunty Island and Belt Bay. During flood events this deeper palaeochannel becomes the primary pathway guiding water southward across the salt pan.
Belt Bay has risen to 1.3 m and is still increasing, Madigan Gulf remains saline and pink at 0.6 m, and remarkably, Lake Eyre South now holds water again, measuring 1.2 m in depth, assisted by inflows from Warriner Creek, Stuart Creek and Margaret Creek via the Margaret inlet. These creeks drain the stony tablelands and breakaway country to the west and south of the lake. Because the terrain is predominantly hard and rocky, rainfall infiltrates poorly and instead runs off rapidly into the lake bed.
The Neales River floodplain also carries remarkable history. The historic Algebuckina Bridge, a Victorian era railway bridge and major landmark on the Oodnadatta Track, spans its floodplain. It was the longest bridge in South Australia for more than 120 years until 2014, carrying the Central Australia Railway and The Ghan across this ephemeral landscape until the line was decommissioned in 1980–81, when the new standard gauge railway was constructed further west to avoid the flood prone basin.
The satellite images compare conditions at the end of January with those observed today in February, a rapid hydrological turnaround, a basin transformed in just weeks.
We look forward to returning to the skies above Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre and the South Australian outback in early March 2026.
ARID AIR located beside the historic Marree Hotel
📞 0488 444 544
Contact us for scenic flight details and bookings. All our scenic flights depart from Marree Airport, we are located at the
junction of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks. The highway from Adelaide is sealed all the way to Marree allowing 2wd access.
