Warragamba Dam

The Lake Burragorang is a large reservoir in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales. It was created by the construction of Warragamba Dam on the river of the same name in the small town of Warragamba about 65 km west of Sydney. There, the water of the River Kedumba, the Coxs River, the Kowmung River, the Wollondilly River, the Tonalli River and Nattai River be dammed, all in the Coxs River, or the Warragamba River, led before. The lake serves as the main drinking water reservoir for the Sydney region. It is located in the Blue Mountains and is surrounded by several national parks and state nature reserves, such as the Blue Mountains National Park, the Kanangra - Boyd National Park, Nattai National Park, the Burragorang State Recreation Park, Nattai State Recreation Park and the Yerranderie State surrounded Recreation Park.

Burragorang Valley

The Warragamba River flows through a narrow gorge, which is 300-600 m wide and 100 m deep. At the top of this canyon opened into a wide valley that Burragorang Valley. Before the construction of the dam, the valley was inhabited by white settlers since the 19th century. A number of rural small towns, such as Burragorang, and coal mines were in the valley. Today they are all flooded.

Dam and Reservoir

Plans and construction

1845 explorer Paul Edmund de Strzelecki became aware of the Warragamba River as a possible source of water for Sydney. 1867 beat supporters for the first time before the construction of a dam. Between 1867 and 1946 there have been various proposals for the construction of dams, before they decided on the present location. 1940, a weir with pumping station under the name Warragamba Emergency Scheme below the present dam was built.

1943 was the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board examine the proposed site from geologists William R. Browne. But Browne found a more suitable location and continued his consulting work until the completion of the dam. The chief engineer was Thomas H. Upton. The construction of the dam began in 1948 and lasted until 1960. Burragorang So the Lake, one of the largest drinking water reservoir in the world was born.

The gravity wall was composed of 3 million tonnes. ( = 1.2 million m³) of concrete poured. To make the temperatures do not rise too much during curing, one had to admit the liquid concrete ice - what then happened for the first time in Australia - and also incorporate cooling pipes that were fed with chilled water.

According to a new estimate of the annual rainfall in flood risks in the years 1987-1989, the dam was increased by a further 5 m and installed on the east side, an additional drain.

In 2006, as part of the Deep Water Storage Recovery Project pierced the base of the dam, to the lowest non- previously available water reserves of the reservoir can. Since this part of the water does not flow out by gravity, a new pumping station had to be installed in the buildings of the former Warragamba Emergency Scheme. Thus, the usable amount of water was increased by 8%.

Storage volume

The reservoir now has a usable capacity of 2027 million cubic meters. Before the end of Deep Water Storage Recovery Project in April 2006 there were only 1 857 million m³.

There are fears that the population development in the Sydney metropolitan area will be well into the 21st century to increase the demand for drinking water on. The population of the city is growing every year by about 50,000 and the end of 2003, the water had to be rationed already. Every great drought leads to further difficulties.

There have been times when the lake was drained beyond measure. Since he was last completely filled in 1998, there were in the catchment area of ​​the River Warrragamba extremely low rainfall. On 8 February 2007, the previous low was reached with only 32.5 % of full capacity; by the end of 2008, it rose again to 60%. To ensure the drinking water supply of Sydney, the state government of New South Wales had built a reverse osmosis plant in Kurnell.

After heavy rainfall in the spring of 2012, the lake after 14 years again reached the full height and the excess had to be drained.

Access to the lake

The Lake Burragorang is surrounded by a 3-km wide drinking water protection zone, which may not be entered. For hikers, there are two access corridors, from Mount MOUIN to Mount Cookem and from Beloon Pass to Yerranderie. A restricted access for road vehicles are available in the firebreak W4 from Sheahys Creek to Yerranderie.

Power station

The power plant at the Warragamba Dam is switched on as soon as the water level has risen to 1 m in the reservoir below the maximum capacity. It provides an electrical output of 50 MW, but since 1998 the water level in the lake did not reach the required height for operation.

Data of the dam

  • Height: 142 m
  • Crown length: 351 m
  • Crown width: 8,5 m
  • Base width: 104 m
  • Width of the central indulgences: 94.5 m
  • Width of the sub- indulgence ( at the mouth ): 190 m
  • Length of the auxiliary indulgences: 700 m
  • Electrical performance of the power plant: 50 MW

Data of the reservoir

  • Usable volume at maximum water level: 2027 million m³
  • Total volume at maximum water level: 2031 million m³
  • Area: 75 km ²
  • Length: 52 km
  • Shore length: 354 km
  • Maximum depth: 105 m
  • Catchment area: 9051 km ²
  • Average rainfall: 840 mm / year
Kedumba River Nepean River Katoomba, New South Wales Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Blue-Mountains-Nationalpark Kanangra-Boyd-Nationalpark Nattai-Nationalpark Paweł Strzelecki
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