Ewlyamartup

Lake Ewlyamartup is an ephemeral salt lake in the Great Southern region of Western Australia located approximately 17 km (11 mi) east of the town of Katanning and about 294 km (183 mi) south east of Perth.

Lake Ewlyamartup is an ephemeral salt lake in the Great Southern region of Western Australia located approximately 17 km (11 mi) east of the town of Katanning and about 294 km (183 mi) south east of Perth.

The traditional owners are the Koreng group of the Noongar peoples. The name of the lake means come now to this place where there is a water hole associated with a leg. A sacred site is situated on the lakes outskirts and was once an Indigenous camp ground hundreds of years ago. The lake provided fresh water and the Noongar would fish and hunt kangaroo in the area.James Stirling and John Septimus Roe explored the area in 1835 while travelling from Perth to Albany. Sandalwood cutters worked the area in 1870 and by 1889 settlers arrived to pursue agricultural activities.The catchment area was extensively cleared, with only 9% of remnant vegetation remaining.A dam was built along the north western margin of the lake in 1912 by excavating. It had a capacity of 4,650 cu yd (3,560 m3) but there was little water in the lake to flow into the dam.Lake Ewlyamartup has sources of inflow but no outflow and can become silted up. In 2010 the local community removed 20,000 m3 (710,000 cu ft) of nutrient rich sludge from the lake and planted 100,000 trees in the catchment area. Since then another 150,00 trees have been planted.The lake is used for recreational purposes such as bird watching and camping. At times when the water levels are high enough it is used for canoeing, kayaking, sailing, swimming, water-skiing and windsurfing.Many facilities are found at the lake, including parking area, picnic tables and seating, shelter, barbeques, toilets, boat ramp, bird hide and camping areas.