3,000,000 tonnes (3,300,000 short tons; 3,000,000 long tons)
Spillways
Two
Spillway type
Controlled chute spillways with five crest gates and a central drum; automatic operation
Reservoir
Creates
Lake Burragorang
Total capacity
2,031 GL (4.47×1011 imp gal; 5.37×1011 US gal)
Catchment area
9,051 km2 (3,495 sq mi)
Surface area
75 km2 (29 sq mi)
Maximum length
52 km (32 mi)
Maximum water depth
105 m (344 ft)
Normal elevation
180 m (590 ft)
Power Station
Operator(s)
Eraring Energy
Commission date
1959; 65 years ago (1959)
Decommission date
2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Type
Conventional
Turbines
1
Installed capacity
50 MW
Website Warragamba Dam at WaterNSW
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name
Warragamba Emergency Scheme
Type
State heritage (built)
Designated
18 November 1999; 24 years ago (1999-11-18)
Reference no.
1376
Type
Water Supply Reservoir/ Dam
Category
Utilities – Water
Builders
Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board
Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the city of Sydney. The dam wall is located approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) W of Sydney central business district, 4½ km SW of the town of Wallacia, and 1 km NW of the village of Warragamba.
The dam was devised as part of a collective engineering response to Sydney's critical water shortage during World War II and was originally known as the Warragamba Emergency Scheme. Constructed between 1948 and 1960, the dam created capacity for a reservoir of 2,031 gigalitres (4.47×1011 imp gal; 5.37×1011 US gal) and is fed by a catchment area of 9,051 square kilometres (3,495 sq mi). The surface area of the lake covers 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi) of the now-flooded Burragorang Valley. It was designed and built by the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board. A small hydroelectric power station was incorporated into the design of the dam but has been disconnected from the grid since 2001.
The property is owned by WaterNSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. The dam was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.
Drought has severely depleted the level of the dam at times: on 8 February 2007 it recorded an all-time low of 32.5% of capacity. On 2 March 2012, it overflowed for the first time in fourteen years. It overflowed again in 2016, March 2021,[1] March 2022[2] and April 2024.[3]
^Cite error: The named reference abc-overflow-21-mar-'21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"NSW flood: Sydney residents west and northwest evacuated after Warragamba dam overflows | Floods off the east coast of Australia 2022". 2 March 2022.
^"Evacuation warnings, road closures as Sydney's Warragamba Dam spills over". 7NEWS. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
WarragambaDam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is...
River and two minor tributaries, Warragamba River rises within Lake Burragorang and is the river on which WarragambaDam is established, creating a large...
over WarragambaDam management amid flooding by Antonette Collins from ABC News. 21 March 2021 Bitter dispute between NSW ministers over WarragambaDam spilling...
major water supply for greater metropolitan Sydney. The dam impounding the lake, the WarragambaDam, is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest...
US$100 million worldwide. In 1983, at the age of 33, Kennedy was killed at WarragambaDam in New South Wales, Australia, when the helicopter he was piloting crashed...
Sydney's largest reservoir and stores water conveyed from WarragambaDam, the Upper Nepean Dams (Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean) and if necessary,...
Sydney respectively. The WarragambaDam spills over with authorities also expecting the Woronora Dam, Cataract Dam and Nepean Dam to overflow. 9 April –...
Burragorang, which is located just outside the park and is the site of WarragambaDam, the major source of drinking water for Sydney. A small section of the...
began, around 450 gigalitres of water a day had been released from the WarragambaDam, equal to the contents of Sydney Harbour, which is around 500 gigalitres...
people were rescued by emergency services during the stormy weekend. WarragambaDam, which was only at 42% in capacity, reached as close to 70% after the...
major recreational area for the inhabitants of GWS. The heritage-listed WarragambaDam, the primary reservoir for water supply for Sydney, is located in the...
Fuse plugs are used in many dams throughout the world, including at WarragambaDam in New South Wales. Its fuse plugs are approximately 14m high. Options...
list of the tallest dams in the world over 135 m (443 ft) in height. The tallest dam in the world is the Jinping-I Dam, an arch dam in China at 305 m (1...
100 mm (3.94 in) of rain fell over parts of Western Sydney overnight. WarragambaDam, Sydney's chief reservoir, was spilling at a rate in excess of 70 gigalitres...
Warragamba Power Station is a hydroelectric power station at WarragambaDam, New South Wales, Australia. Warragamba has one turbine with a generating...
area, in addition to over 140 rescues and 19,000 homes losing power. Warragambadam also had a major spillage with 515 gigalitres of water flowing down...
at WarragambaDam. Railway sidings were established on the Main Southern railway line at a point between Bargo and Yerrinbool. Transport to the dam site...
across the Megarritys Creek, located at WarragambaDam in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Warragamba in the Wollondilly Shire local government...
wilderness, declared wild rivers, and WarragambaDam, until reaching 457 metres (1,499 ft), over the township of Warragamba and descending towards the airport...
220×10^6 cu ft). The dam has two outlets, the usual main spillway flowing into the Wingecarribee River which feeds the WarragambaDam system, and an added...
Premier of New South Wales officially opens WarragambaDam, one of the world's largest domestic water supply dams. October 24 – Nedelin catastrophe: A large...
the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on the proposed raising of the WarragambaDam wall. "Wilderness chief quits in anger". The Sydney Morning Herald....
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