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. Location and features 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. History 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. Renowned fly-fishing author Alfred Ronalds established Ballarat's first garden nursery in 1854 at the outlet stream that flowed from the swamp and irrigated it from this creek. He also built large tanks there and provided water for the town. Plans to dam the outlet began as early as the first surveying and the bank was raised and a pipeline was installed in 1858 to supply the burgeoning gold rush settlement. A corroboree was observed at the Wendouree Swamp in March 1857 by a Ballarat Times reporter. In 1864 a rowing course was first cut through the reedy swamp and the first steamboats arrived. In 1869 a severe drought caused the lake to dry up completely however the water returned the following year and the boats returned. Within a decade it