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Work begins to clean two key regional lakes

Work has finally begun on the rehabilitation of two iconic lakes in the Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.

After more than a decade of consultation and planning, engineering will begin to help repair Lakes Yealering and Ewlyamartup.

The lakes have long been an important habitat for birdlife and a popular playground for people and water sports.

Over the decades, the lakes have suffered from a build up of sediment, restricting the water flow and quality.

Charged with helping to turnaround the lakes system was Wheatbelt NRM’s Living Lakes’ Project Manager, Meghan McGregor.

She said water levels had been declining for some time.

“This week, work began on digging a flushing channel at Lake Ewlyamartup, which will allow for poor quality water to be drained at certain times of the year.

This hyper saline lake is unique because the inflow and outflow is from the same creek, which results in a lack of flushing.

By building banks, overflow weirs and bypass channels we hope to increase the inflow and control the outflow.

Similar work will begin at Lake Yealering this summer.”

The Living Lakes is a $3.7 million project made possible by the State Government’s Royalties for Regions program.

Meghan McGregor said that work was expected to be finished by June 2019.

“Local communities have campaigned for decades to protect these areas, which have created many intergenerational memories,” she said.

Helping her in the role has been her success in applying for this year’s Ben Scott Young Professional Scholarship through the Australian Institute of Management (AIM).

The scholarship provides professional development support and courses.

“Coming from a small, rural community myself, I feel very invested in this project and this scholarship will provide me with improved capacity to deliver good outcomes,” Meghan McGregor said.