Drought

Lake Preston – Yalgorup National Park

Yalgorup National Park, located 100m from my front door, protects a chain of 10 lakes of high conservation importance. The park offers refuge to plant numbers of plants and animal species. Its particularly notable for its tuart woodlands, salt marsh communities, ancient thrombolites and international migratory waterbird species.

South Western Australia has undergone one of its hottest summers on record. Before the hot summer months we experienced one of the driest winters on record, with rainfall at approximately 50% below average levels.

As a result the Lake Preston and the surrounding Yalgorup Park are extremely dry. The lake is a barren almost moonscape like environment. I took a walk out on the lake a few days ago to take photos and some field recordings. It struck me on the walk home that 15 years ago this lake was used for waterskiing and sailing but in recent years the lake is dry in summer, devoid of water and filled with the a salty brine smell and the debris of bones, feathers and resilient salt marsh plant species. The sounds in the centre of the lake were limited to my footsteps, the wind and the distant hum of traffic from the nearby highway.

- Matt

Lake preston blogmix by Matt Rösner