Karkarook Lake must be managed.

The lake is essentially an artificial lake.   Constructed from a sand mine with a 600 mm lining of clay and filled from a deep aquifer via a pump situated near Henry Street.

With this in mind, we must consider what it is that we have.  Karkarook Park has been designed for a purpose. 

• The serpentine ponds wetlands serves as filtration for storm-water runoff as well as a very handy wetland for all kinds of critters. This is managed by Melbourne Water and partly funded  by levies on our water rates.

• The lake is a totally separate body of water.  The lake's primary purpose is to provide physical and mental health benefits to the community via passive recreation opportunities as well as an immersive experiences of urban nature  (Its secondary purpose is as a retarding basin, mitigating a one in a hundred year flood event).  

Karkarook Lake was designed to provide wetlands and shallows (submerged aquatic zone) for all kinds of water birds and the ecology to support their feeding grounds.  For this to happen the water level needs to be at  39.5 m AHD and should seasonally vary by up to 400mm (+or -)

The lake water level has not been within design parameters for many years and is current close to 38.5 AHD , a full meter below what it should be.

This means that the lakeside wetlands and the shallows have all but  disappeared.  The sub-aquatic vegetation has gone.   The ecosystem severely degraded and the bird-life that was beginning to become established has gone.

The GOOD NEWS is that funding has been announced for the replacement of the bore pump.  Local Parks Victoria staff applied to Victorian Fisheries Authority for funding from the 2022-23 Recreational Fishing License Large Grants Program.  $47,400 to upgrade the submersible bore pump at Karkarook Lake. 

On the 7th July 2023, thee Hon Sonya Kilkenny, Minister for Outdoor Recreation announced that the application was successful.

Local Parks Victoria staff are now waiting for the funds to be made available.

For further information, the OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL as prepared for Parks Victoria by the designing engineers (Fisher and Fisher) can be viewed and/or downloaded here.

Here's how can you help.

Parks Victoria is universally considered the most underfunded service provided by the Victorian State Government.   

Talk to your local candidates and let them know that Parks Victoria needs better funding, and Karkarook Park needs a bigger slice of the pie!   Let them know it's important!