Date of Award

1993

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts Honours

School

School of Social and Cultural Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Arts

First Supervisor

Dr Hugo Bekle

Second Supervisor

Mark Bannister

Abstract

The Yellagonga Regional Park is located approximately 20 km north of Perth and 6km east of the coast, in the City of Wanneroo. The park is comprised of Lake Joondalup, Beenyup Swamp, Wallubuenup Swamp and Lake Goollelal, a largely directly-linked wetland system and their surrounds. The importance of wetlands within the Perth Metropolitan area is widely documented with only 20% of the pre-European settlement wetlands remaining. (Godfrey, 1988; Davis, 1988) By comparison wetlands in the Yellagonga Regional Park are relatively natural in their state. (LeProvost, 1987) The park is of significance due to its conservation value, providing a varied array of wetland habitats, plants and animals. It is also of great educational, scientific and cultural value. A detailed management plan for the park is essential. One aspect of managing the park is current and anticipated water level fluctuations. This study compares recorded and reconstructed water level data for the two lakes within the park, Lake Goollelal and Lake Joondalup, with rainfall, evaporation and land-use data. The correlation between some of these variables more fully described the historical variations in water levels that have occurred. Apparent trends in evaporation and rainfall have been analysed. There is a need to more fully investigate the apparent changes in this data, in particular the increased correlations between the evaporation, rainfall and water level data following urbanisation. Historical reconstructions and oral histories from long time Wanneroo residents provides an insight into previously unavailable information on water level changes.

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