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Professor Lawrence will also share how water races were constructed, and who made them, and outline the systems\u2019 destruction on the environment and Aboriginal communities.<\/p>\n
FOCC members have been recording the 30-kilometre network of water races in the Woowookarung Regional Park, which are subtle in 2023, but can still be seen by visitors.<\/p>\n
There are also seven sluice field sites and four dams in the area, including Mount Helen Reservoir, which supplied water to quartz crushers and the Sebastopol Whitehorse diggings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City of Ballarat is one of thirteen local councils seeking World Heritage Listing for the Goldfields,\u201d FOCC secretary Jeff Rootes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alluvial gold mining sites, mine-shafts and adits, water races, dams, and sluice fields on the east side of Ballarat are largely intact and could form part of that bid as exemplars of alluvial and sluice mining.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are the closest original diggings to Ballarat, and they are unrecognised by any historical record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Lawrence encourages people to attend her talk to make their next visit to Woowookarung a \u201cricher experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will return with a much better understanding of what they\u2019re looking at in the bush, and the significance of the little shallow channels that have been dug into the earth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strange ditches stretch further than just the 100 metres you can see from the path. They\u2019re part of 4000 kilometres of ditches in Victoria, and part of a legal system that changed people thinking about water.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Eureka holding such a central place in the story of mining, Professor Lawrence said she couldn\u2019t think of a more appropriate setting to share her research.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to do it there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The event will be held on Wednesday, 17 May at the Eureka Centre from 7pm. It is free, but attendees are asked to register at bit.ly\/3LpartK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE major impact the goldrush had on the quality of the Ballarat region\u2019s waterways, while also influencing water supply, and infrastructure is the focus of an upcoming event. Alluvial gold mining in the east side of the city began in the 1850s, and a presentation at the Eureka Centre this month will discuss the broader […]<\/p>\n