Lake Victoria, Reservoir in western New South Wales, Australia

Lake Victoria is a large reservoir in western New South Wales that collects and stores water from the Murray-Darling basin. The shallow water body is regulated by a dam and serves to hold water and control its flow into adjacent river systems.

Lake Victoria is a naturally occurring shallow freshwater lake, not an artificial one. Its capacity was increased in the 1920s when an embankment was built and regulators installed to control water release. It now stores water to manage agreed minimum flows down the Murray into South Australia, and is operated by SA Water on behalf of River Murray Water.

The lake lies on Frenchmans Creek, an anabranch of the Murray above Lock 9, and returns water to the river through the Rufus River below Lock 7. Despite standing in New South Wales, it is run by SA Water of South Australia on behalf of River Murray Water, a division of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.

Lake Victoria lies about 60 km downstream of the Murray–Darling junction, fed by Frenchmans Creek above Lock 9 and draining to the Murray via the Rufus River below Lock 7. SA Water operates the lake on behalf of River Murray Water, so access and water levels are managed rather than freely open. Summers are very hot and winters mild and very dry; the wettest recorded day brought 97.5 mm on 26 February 1939.

Lake Victoria is operated by SA Water, the South Australian authority, on behalf of River Murray Water, a division of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, even though the lake lies in New South Wales. When full it holds 677 GL, covers 12,200 ha and reaches about 5.5 m deep.