| Lake Paniai | |
|---|---|
 Lake Paniai, with the town ofEnarotali at lower right | |
| Location | Paniai Regency andDeiyai Regency,Central Papua,Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 3°54′S136°19′E / 3.900°S 136.317°E /-3.900; 136.317 |
| Primary outflows | Yawei River (Urumuka) |
| Basin countries | Indonesia |
| Max. length | 16 km (9.9 mi) |
| Max. width | 9 km (5.6 mi) |
| Surface area | 154 km2 (59 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 44 m (144 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 1,740 m (5,710 ft) |
| References | [1][2] |
ThePaniai Lakes, originally known as theWissel Lakes, are the three large, freshwater lakes inCentral Papua, Indonesia:[3]Paniai,Tigi, andTage. Lakes Paniai and Tage are located in thePaniai Regency, while Lake Tigi is located inthe Deiyai Regency. The largest of the three is Lake Paniai (Danau Paniai), while its immediate neighbor Lake Tage is the smallest.
The lakes are in theNew Guinea Highlands, between theWeyland Mountains on the west and theSudirman Range or Snow mountains to the east.
Lake Paniai is the largest of the lakes, with an area of approximately 154 km2. The lake's elevation is 1,752 metres, and it has an average depth of 44 metres. There are wetlands along the eastern shore of the lake, including around the town ofEnarotali.[1] The lake is drained by the Jawej River, which flows southwards to join theOeta River, which empties into theArafura Sea.
Lake Tage is immediately south of Lake Paniai separated by a narrow strip of land, and is approximately 8 km long east to west and 3 km wide north to south.[4] It has an elevation of 1758 metres and a maximum depth of 52 metres.[1] Lake Tage empties into Lake Paniai via the short Dimija River, which is partly subterranean.[4]
Tigi Lake is south of Lake Tage, and has a surface elevation of 1640 metres. It is roughly triangular in shape with a maximum distance across of 8 km. It drains into the Jawej River via underground streams.[4]
Despite their considerable size (Lake Paniai alone is larger thanLake Como), they were not known outside New Guinea until 1937. On 31 December 1936, the Dutch navy pilotFrits Julius Wissel, just weeks after first ascending thehighest mountain of New Guinea, and his crew flew over the lakes while making an aerial survey for the Dutch New Guinea oil company. He took photos and noticed many people in canoes, establishing that this mountainous region was populated.[5][6] During a follow-up flight by E.L.J. Haak on 15 February 1937, it was established that there were many settlements around the lakes, indicating a thriving agricultural society.[5] In November of that year, the Dutch Indies government named the group of lakes after Wissel. A small Dutch outpost was established here in 1938, but contact was cut off during theSecond World War.[7]
The region of the Paniai Lakes, consisting of a depression between the Weyland and Sudirman ranges, is heavily populated.[8] The indigenous peoples of this area are theEkagi, also called the Mee.[9] Around the year 2001, as part of thePapua conflict, the surrounding forests were burned down by the military so that they could not harbor separatists. Illegal or informal mining operations in Baya Biru also exacerbated the pollution and environmental degradation. However, it was difficult for local authorities to stop because of its remote location, which is only accessible by helicopter, and mining activities employ 7,000 people in the area. Combined, these resulted in increased sedimentation of Lake Paniai, and in 2011, the lake overflowed, flooding the surrounding area with up to 4 meters of water.[10]
There are few fish in the lakes, but thePaniai gudgeon (Oxyeleotris wisselensis) isendemic to the lake system.[11] Thecommon carp (Cyprinus carpio),Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) andMozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus) are non-natives that have beenintroduced by humans.
In contrast to the low fishdiversity, there is a very high diversity ofParastacid crayfish of the genusCherax. Of the eight species known from the lake system, two (C. longipes andC. solus) are endemic Lake Tigi, five (C. boschmai,C. buitendijkae,C. murido,C. pallidus andC. paniaicus) are endemic to Lake Paniai, and a single species (C. communis) is found both in the lakes and the surrounding area.[12][13]
A species ofskink (Emoia paniai), is endemic to and named after the area.[14]
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