Perry Lakes Reserve

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Situated between Perry Lakes Estate, Oceanic Drive, Bold Park and Underwood Avenue, Perry Lakes Reserve in Floreat Western Australia is an iconic regional park with a rich history.  Within the 80-hectare reserve are two lakes, East Lake and West Lake, comprising approximately 12.6 hectares.   In its current form, the reserve dates from 1962 when the area was landscaped in association with the construction of Perry Lakes Stadium and associated sporting tracks and facilities for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The sporting complex was demolished in 2011 to make way for a housing development.

Over the last thirty years the water levels in both the east and west lake have declined to the point that both lakes are dry for many of the warmer months of the year. Perry Lakes water levels are directly influenced by groundwater levels in the superficial (Gnangara Mound) aquifer and directly impacted by changes in the water cycle. Significant impacts have been observed through increased water abstraction for irrigation and public drinking water and compounded by reduction in annual rainfall which is anticipated to further decline over the coming decades due to climate change. 

In mid 2022, the Town of Cambridge is expected to complete a project to re-direct freshwater which is currently flowing out to sea north of Floreat Beach through a Water Corporation stormwater drain (Herdsman Main Drain) to both water bodies at Perry Lakes. This will provide localised groundwater recharge and increase levels in both lakes during the warmer and drier months of the year.