 Development of the Canning River as a source of water for Perth was first proposed in a report of the first Metropolitan Water Works Board of Perth in 1896 . Investigation of the site began in 1897 when engineer Thomas Hodgson surveyed and proposed the dam 's current location as a possible site . However , despite the recommendations of further inquiries , and an extreme shortage of water in some years , government funds were not allocated for the construction of a dam until the Great Depression in the 1930s . 
