Lake Wendouree

Lake Wendouree
The lake pictured in 2006, looking towards central Ballarat and beyond to Mount Warrenheip
Lake Wendouree Location in Victoria
Location	Ballarat, Victoria
Coordinates	37°33′02″S 143°50′00″E / 37.55056°S 143.83333°E / -37.55056; 143.83333Coordinates: 37°33′02″S 143°50′00″E / 37.55056°S 143.83333°E / -37.55056; 143.83333
Type	Artificial
Primary inflows	Gong Gong Reservoir; various
Primary outflows	Gnarr Creek outlet; evaporation
Basin countries	Australia
Max. length	2 km (1.2 mi)
Max. width	1.4 km (0.87 mi)
Surface area	2.38 km2 (0.92 sq mi)
Average depth	2 m (6 ft 7 in)
Water volume	3,860 ML (850,000,000 imp gal; 1.02×109 US gal)
Shore length1	6 km (3.7 mi)
Surface elevation	450 m (1,480 ft)
Settlements	Ballarat
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Wendouree is an artificially-created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local aboriginal word wendaaree which means 'go away': a story is told that when settler William Cross Yuille asked a local indigenous woman what the name of the swamp was, that was her reply.

Lake Wendouree is one of the smallest of a complex of natural wetlands which includes nearby Lake Burrumbeet and Lake Learmonth on the plains of the Central Highlands. The swamp was dammed following the Victorian gold rush in 1851 and since the 1860s it has been a popular recreational lake for Ballarat's citizens. Lake Wendouree now holds significant historical, environmental and recreational values to the Ballarat community. The lake hosted the rowing and canoeing events during the 1956 Olympic Games.

During its history, the shallow lake has dried up during drought conditions, the most recent an extended period between 2006 and 2011.

In ancient times Lake Wendouree was originally a stream which flowed to the west but a lava flow caused it to be dammed on three sides and it now drains to the east, eventually into the Yarrowee River. The swamp was known to Europeans as "Black Swamp" due to its dense dark reeds. It was later known as "Yuille's Swamp" after William Cross Yuille who settled just south of it. When Ballarat was first surveyed in 1851 by W S Urquhart the swamp was recorded as Wendouree and the misunderstood aboriginal word became the official name. Plans to dam the outlet stream that flowed from the swamp began as early as the first surveying and the bank raised and pipes installed and it became the first permanent water supply for the burgeoning gold rush settlement. A corroboree was observed at the Wendouree Swamp in March 1857 by a Ballarat Times reporter.