Yangebup Lake is a freshwater lake in the suburb of Yangebup, south-west of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the capital of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is part of

Beeliar Regional Park Beeliar Regional Park is a conservation park approximately south of the central business district in Perth, Western Australia, located within the Citys of Cockburn, Kwinana and Melville. The regional park is named after the indigenous Beel ...

Overview

Yangebup Lake's name is derived from the

Nyungar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

word for the locally-growing

bullrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family ( Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **''Scirpus'' **'' Blysmus'' **'' Bolboschoenus'' **''Scirpoides'' **'' Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **''Trichophorum'' *Typha ...

(''

Typha domingensis ''Typha domingensis'', known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus '' Typha''. Distribution and habitat It is found throughout temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It is sometimes found as a ...

''), ''yanget''. The lake and its name were first recorded by European settlers in 1841 while the suburb of Yangebup officially received its name in 1977. The same naming origins incidentally apply for

Lake Yanchep Loch McNess ( Nyoongar:''Wagardu Lark''), also known as Yanchep Lake, is a freshwater lake located near Yanchep in the northern part of the coastal plain of Perth, Western Australia. Loch McNess is part of the Wanneroo wetlands, a chain of lak ...

and its eponymous suburb,

Yanchep Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, north of the Perth CBD. It is a part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. Originally a small crayfishing settlement, it was developed by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1 ...

, located in the north of Perth. The area surrounding the lake historically served as camping, gathering and hunting grounds for the local Wadjuk people of the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

nation, who are estimated to have lived in the area for 40,000 years. The wetlands of

were highly important to the local indigenous population as a source of both food and water. North Lake Road, which passes the lake to the north-east, follows what formerly was an important track connecting what is now the area of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

with the land to the east. Yangebup Lake continues to be of mythological, historical and ceremonial importance to the local indigenous people and is a registered site of Aboriginal Cultural Significance. European settlement of the area commenced in the 1880s, when land grants were made to a number of settlers who proceeded to use the land for the grazing of sheep and cows, for poultry and pig farming and also for cropping. The wider area became known as the Jandakot Agricultural Area. Large scale farming was gradually abandoned in favor of market gardens because of the poor soil in the area, which required fertilising to be productive. When this also declined in the early 1920s, a short-lived tramway, the

Baldivis Tramway The Baldivis Tramway, also referred to as the Peel Estate Tramway or Peel Tramline, was a short-lived tramway, originally planned to be operating from Jandakot railway station to Karnup, in Western Australia. The line was constructed to suppo ...

, was built south of the lake to connect Jandakot railway station to the

Peel Estate The Peel Estate was an area of land in the south of Perth, Western Australia, predominantly in what is now the City of Kwinana, City of Rockingham and the Shire of Serpentine–Jarrahdale. The estate twice featured prominently in Western Australi ...

, part of a

Group Settlement Scheme The Group Settlement Scheme was an assisted migration scheme which operated in Western Australia from the early 1920s. It was engineered by Premier of Western Australia, Premier James Mitchell (Australian politician), James Mitchell and followe ...

further south in what is now the

City of Rockingham The City of Rockingham is a council and local government area, comprising the south coastal suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth. History Rockingham is located in the southern part of the traditional tribal territory of the ...

. The tramway was dismantled again in 1925. In the 1920s, a

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

scouring industry was established on the eastern shore of the lake, taking advantage of the fresh water the lake provided. The Jandakot Wool Scouring Co., as the enterprise was known, operated for 70 years at the location, resulting in ongoing pollution issues from its discharge, with

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

and

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

having been found in the lake sediment. The limited agricultural use of the land still present declined further and, from the 1970s, some of the area around the lake was set aside for conservation while new suburbs in the area were created from the 1980s. The Jandakot Wool Scouring Co., which it became known as from 1938, began operations in 1927. It originally operated out of non-permanent facilities, with changing configurations according to demand. From 1972, the facility was modernised and became more permanent. In the mid-1980s, the environmental impact of the facility came under increased scrutiny and, in the late 1990s operations moved to East Rockingham, was rebranded as Jandakot Wool Washing Pty Ltd, and the old facility was demolished.

Storm water Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed land ...

run off from the new built up areas caused the lake's water level to rise through the inflow of untreated water, causing damage to the surrounding vegetation. As a remedy, the South Jandakot Drainage Scheme was implemented in 1995, which allowed for the regulation of the lake's water level by discharging water to the water treatment facility at

Woodman Point Woodman Point is a headland on the west coast of Western Australia. It is located in the Perth suburb of Coogee, south-south-west of the city centre and south of Fremantle. It extends westward into the Indian Ocean. The coastal waters immed ...

. The lake continues to suffer from inflows of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

through fertiliser runoff from surrounding agriculture and suburban gardens, causing it to be hyper-

eutrophic Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplank ...

. This causes

algae blooms An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompa ...

in the lake and, as a knock-on effect, allows large numbers of

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

s to breed, with attempts made to stop this cycle. To this end, the

City of Cockburn The City of Cockburn ( ) is a local government area in the southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about south of Fremantle and about south of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and had a po ...

, the local government area the lake is located in, constructed nutrient stripping treatment trains on the eastern shore of the lake in 2016, which achieved only very limited success.

References

External links

* Urban Bushland Council WA Inc.
Beeliar Regional Park
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yangebup Lake Beeliar Regional Park Lakes of Perth, Western Australia Noongar placenames