The Lachlan catchment is centrally-located in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and New South Wales, and is the northernmost river in the Southern MDB. Broad-scale audits have consistently found the Lachlan to be in poor ecological condition, however these studies have generally focussed on sites within the main channel rather than off-river habitats. Research over the last ten years has shed more light on the creeks, wetlands and lakes that characterise the Lachlan, with somewhat surprising and contrary results. A new population of endangered olive perchlet has been discovered in the Booligal area and breeding areas for freshwater catfish have been located in creeks close to Condobolin. These case studies, as well as a broader consideration of the ecological role played by the large regulated lakes Cargelligo and Brewster, will be discussed.