Railway dams and reservoirs were used to supply water to an extensive railway system that ventured into low rainfall, and poor water quality areas of the inner regions of Western Australia in the 1890s.
Seasonal variations and drought conditions[1][2] in various areas made rainfall and re-filling of dams a reportable event in the West Australian media.
[3] Water quality was a perennial problem, and some dams and supplies had levels of unwanted salinity and other ingredients that seriously affected the life-time of the boilers in steam locomotives used by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR).
The information about the dams – Return of Reservoirs – can be found in the WAGR annual reports,[5] but there is no consistency as to which appendices they are listed in during the period 1899–1905.
The appendices are fully expanded tables that include the capacity of the dams, as well as their location in miles from the Perth railway station.