[1] The wetlands, waters, foreshore and wider environs at Clayton Bay host spectacular sunsets and area attracting national and international environmentalists, ornithologists, bird watchers, photographers, artists, botanists, anthropologists, astronomers and those engaged in ecotourism and water based activities, particularly sailing (popular due to seasonal high wind speeds).

The site excludes all privately owned fringing wetlands around the edge of the lakes except for land subject to inundation in Clayton Bay, Marshall Bight and Tookayerta Creek.

These include: There are populations of kangaroos, sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) and short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) within the town and environs.

The Ngarrindjeri consist of several distinct if closely related groups, including the Jarildekald, Tanganekald, Meintangk and Ramindjeri,[28] who began to form a unified cultural bloc after Aboriginal peoples were forcibly removed to Raukkan, South Australia (formerly Point McLeay Mission).

[29] Archaeology, particularly in excavations conducted at Roonka Flat, (which affords an outstanding sites for investigating "pre–European contact Aboriginal burial populations in Australia,") have revealed that the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri have been inhabited since the Holocene period, beginning around 8,000 B.C.

[33] Ngarrindjeri peoples and supporters have challenged and partnered with the South Australian Government for decades,[34] including its natural resource management representatives, over questions of justice, agency, control, sovereignty and the decolonisation of existing and long-standing relationships.

The determination granted the Ngarrindjeri people rights including the right to access and move around the Native Title Land, hunt, fish and gather, share and exchange, use Natural Water Resources, cook and light fires for ceremonial purposes, engage in cultural activities and protect cultural sites.

On 3 November 1829, Sturt left Sydney to assume command of the expedition that eventually turned itself into the famous Murray River Voyage.

The crew, besides Sturt and Macleay included soldiers, Harris, Hopkinson, and Frasier and convicts, Mulholland, Macnamee, and Clayton.

The 2000s Australian drought arose from very low flows to the Lower Murray (over Lock 1) resulting in the lowest water levels in over 90 years of records.

[48] The lowest water levels during the extreme low flow period were reached in April 2009, and represented a 64% and 73% reduction in the volume of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert respectively.

The seawater intrusion, lack of flushing, evapoconcentration and increased resuspension resulted in severe water quality impacts[48] Exposure and oxidation of acid sulfate soils due to falling water levels from 2007 to 2009 in the Lower River and Lower Lakes also resulted in acidification of soils, lake and groundwater.

The mosaic is a compass made of intersecting ripples of mainly blue tiles, with the colours at the north point depicting sunset on the water.

The work also includes swamp hen footprints to an area of concrete that borders the tiling (the work was commissioned during the 2000s Australian Drought when water levels were extremely low and the purple swamp hen (Porphyrio melanotus) disappeared from the area, leaving nothing but footprints).

Clayton Bay is part of an internationally significant Ramsar wetland area and a highly fragile ecological setting with Indigenous cultural heritage sites.

The increased spread of carp and its impact on freshwater habitat has come at the expense of native fish species and aquatic vegetation.

[63] The combination of a biological control mechanism, and an improved environmental flow regime may impact the likelihood of a positive future for native fish, although there is still ongoing debates.