MANMADE LAKE SPARKS NATURAL FUN

Australia’s largest naturally filtered, purpose-built conservation and recreation lake sets the tone for nature-based fun.

Featuring its own waterfall, 125 metres of private beach, an island and large rock placement, Lake Gkula in Woodfordia, Queensland, is a manmade paradise designed for fun and wildlife protection.

Home of the Woodford Folk Festival, the property has been developed as an event site by Woodfordia Inc since 1994. Growing to become the internationally renowned event it now is, organisers of the festival wanted to ensure the property was more than just the site for the annual festival, they wanted it to become a haven for wildlife.

With a desire to leave a legacy for future generations, festival organisers undertook the rehabilitation of the site, with the prospect of developing an environmental showcase. In addition to creating infrastructure to support the festival, revegetation programmes were developed to increase comfort levels for festival patrons by providing ample shade, minimising dust and building wildlife corridors. The programme also served to improve soil quality and prevent erosion.

Kicking off the rehabilitation, a tree planting weekend was organised back in 1997. Now an annual event, The Planting, as it is known, was about getting as many trees planted as possible. Volunteers of all ages came to help, putting in over 100,000 trees, which after 20 years has transformed the site from wild paddock to organic parkland. And that was just the beginning.

Over the years, programmes for the site have grown to include additional planting of native trees and grasses, environmental education, the installation of nesting boxes for local animals, and ongoing maintenance of the site throughout the year. In late 2019, rehabilitation included the construction of Lake Gkula.

With a surface area of 1.4 acres and sitting at 5.5 metres at its deepest, Lake Gkula is Australia’s largest naturally filtered, purpose-built conservation and recreation lake. Designed and built as an aquatic ecosystem for swimming and snorkelling, the lake was constructed using 2000 tonnes of pebble, 2000 tonnes of rock, 900 tonnes of river sand, and filled with over 12 million litres of water. Designed and constructed by natural landscape company Waterscapes Australia, Lake Gkula is the first of its kind to this scale in Australia — in the world, in fact.

A natural habitat for endemic fish and plant life was designed into the system, with 18 species of native freshwater fish and 9000 aquatic plants used to establish the ecosystem and support future growth. This aquatic diversity also makes it an excellent playground for users to learn about and appreciate the local flora and fauna.

Wildlife on the property is thriving — including the human kind — with plenty of activities for everyone and lots of space for harmonious coexistence. A sunken boat in the deepest recesses of the lake forms a ‘destination’ for snorkelers, rocks provide fun diving platforms from the waterfalls and boulder seats around the island. Plinth designs between the beaches and pathways have been shaped to hug the curves of the lake, and Mary River Cod habitats have been built into the lake walls.

Chemical free, with an engineered wetland filtration and circulation system, the lake took over 5 months to construct. The full scope of the project included constructing the lake, levelling the surrounds for patrons and market stalls used during events, building the external pump shed, including the electric and plumbing design, in addition to ensuring adequate drainage and flood prevention through the installation of sub-drainage and surrounding swails. Under the project management of Patrick Handley, company director and head designer, Waterscapes Australia undertook everything from excavation, shaping and pond lining to the circulation system, lighting, plant and fauna selection, as well as post-care troubleshooting, maintenance and training of site crew.

One of the biggest challenges of the projects for Waterscapes Australia was finding the balance between developing a robust ecosystem and a filtration system that would surpass testing requirements for recreational swimming. Engineering a circulation system to provide adequate water flow and chemical-free filtration was realised with the inclusion of two Aquascape up-flow wetland filtration systems, with a total area scaled to 12 percent of the water body surface area, each supplied with 350,000 litres of water flow per hour. Water circulation is key to the scheme. A total of 1,000,000 litres of water per hour is circulated throughout the lake. An intake bay for debris collection was also installed.

Completing the project required a team of trained Aquascape contractors who travelled from all over Australia to be a part of this world-first project. The length of the build called for a rotational workforce, meaning each stage required training, with many of the contractors living onsite for weeks at a time. For Waterscapes Australia, balancing productivity, training and the wellbeing of the contractors was a priority across the timeline of the project. Well worth the logistics, given the end result.

The Lake Gkula project has recently been honoured for its innovation with the Sustainable Landscape Award from industry body Landscape Queensland.

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PROJECT PARTICULARS
Client Woodfordia Inc
Location Moreton Bay Hinterland, Queensland
Product Supply Aquascape Australia
Granite Gympie Granite & Gravel City
Plant Supply Suncoast Water Gardens & Mooloolah River Care Nursery
Fauna Supply ANGFA
Earthmoving Equipment Coates Hire
Project Design & Management Patrick Handley
Installation Waterscapes Australia

COMPANY
Waterscapes Australia