Townley, L.R., Turner, J.V., Rich, J.F., and Wright, K.D. (1995). Preliminary report on the groundwater hydrology of Perry Lakes, prepared for the Town of Cambridge, CSIRO Division of Water Resources Consultancy Report No. 95/27, 61pp., August.

Summer water levels in East Lake, within the Perry Lakes Reserve have been artificially maintained over the past two summers by pumping from the unconfined aquifer. Bores within the reserve are used for lawn irrigation during the week, while on weekends a portion of the pumping capacity is used to maintain lake levels. West Lake is not artificially maintained and over the past two summers of below average rainfall has dried up.

This study was initiated at the request of the Perth City Council (PCC) who were considering the construction of a bore specifically for lake maintenance.

Water level loggers installed in 4 piezometers constructed by the PCC and on staff gauges within the lakes have been monitored over a period of 21 months. These along with records of summer groundwater utilisation provide baseline data on groundwater and lake level fluctuations. The data suggest that the effects of pumping and artificial lake level maintenance can be observed in bores distant from the main bore field and that at times during the summer pumping may be predominating over evapotranspiration. The question of whether and to what extent groundwater extraction from the unconfined aquifer is or may affect lake levels remains unresolved.