Churchman brook dam

Churchman brook dam

Churchman Brook Dam is a substantial engineering structure set within a picturesque valley landscape surrounded by State Forest, and features attractive landscaped areas in front of the dam wall. The place was an integral component of the 1924 ‘Hills Scheme’, and, along with the other water reservoirs constructed in the Darling Range catchment area during this time, has continuously supplied Perth with water since 1929. The place is valued by the community for its historic associations, and, thanks to its scenic qualities, as a place for bushwalking, picnics and social recreation. Churchman Brook Dam is representative of an earth fill embankment dam, which is created from compacted earth and rock to create an impermeable barrier for the retention of water.

Physical Description
The site is located in the Churchman Brook valley of the Darling Plateau, approximately 5km west of the Canning Dam and Reservoir, and is surrounded on all sides by State Forest. The dam itself comprises a simple earth fill embankment which runs in a northeast-southwest orientation, retaining the reservoir of water which has a catchment area of 16km2, contained on either side by the valley walls. A concrete spillway extends down the northern face of the dam wall, terminating at the valley base where landscaped picnic and parking areas have been installed.

History
In the summer of 1923, the people of Perth were protesting about the city’s inadequate water supply and in 1924, the Premier, Sir James Mitchell, announced the launch of the ‘Hills Scheme’, to solve the problem of chronic water shortages. The scheme involved the construction of three reservoirs in the Hills to serve the city, and three pipe-head dams to be built as a short term solution. The project began with the construction of a reservoir and pipe-head at Churchman Brook, which was to be completed in two years and would deliver two million gallons of water a day. At the same time, pipe-head dams were also built on the upper Canning at Araluen and on Wungong Brook. Work commenced on the ‘Hills Scheme’ with a pipe-head diversion structure at the Churchman site linked to Perth on 25 February 1925. Churchman Brook Dam, an earth fill embankment dam, was completed in 1929, and provided Perth with a substantial portion of its ‘‘Hills’’ water supply until 1937. Difficult and isolated working conditions, heavy rainfall and bad roads made the project a challenge for engineers and laborer's alike. As with other dam projects in the Hills Scheme, workers lived at the site in temporary dwellings. In winter, horses that pulled heavy rollers to compact the dam wall, sank up to their bellies in clay. The reservoir site was cleared by hand by a workforce about to suffer the greater hardship of the Depression years