Wheatbelt NRM has commenced work on the $3.7M Royalties for Regions Living Lakes Stage 3 Implementation Project.

It is the final stage of a programme commenced in 2008 that aims to revitalise regional communities through restoring key lakes to permanent water bodies, activating local communities and increasing visitation.

The project, scheduled for completion in 2019, will see the implementation of engineering designs to improve water quality and inundation to lakes Yealering and Ewlyamartup.

Community participation and activation is crucial to the success of the project with funding available to restore native vegetation, habitats and sustainable recreation spaces.

Long term maintenance plans to protect the lakes into the future are also a key objective of the project and include the preservation of Aboriginal sacred sites in and around each lake.

Recent unseasonal summer rains have resulted in the lakes currently enjoying water levels that have rarely been seen in recent decades.

“It is a timely reminder of how these lakes were experienced by generations past as well as a promise for what is yet to come as a result of Living Lakes,” said Wheatbelt NRM CEO Natarsha Woods.

Wheatbelt NRM will soon be advertising for a Project Manager and have commenced discussions with community groups and key project partners to convene a Project Control Group as well as Community Project Groups for each lake.