Warragamba Dam

What does a fish say when it runs into a wall?…… Dam

In Week 3, Year 8 Geographers visited Warragamba to see the dam that supplies water to over 5 million Australians. Accompanied by Mrs. Shedden, Ms. Spencer, and Mr. Dibdin, we learnt so much about the importance of the dam in times of drought, its role in flood prevention and we undertook some water sampling to investigate water quality.  We even had the opportunity to go underground through the tunnels in the dam wall.

Warragamba Dam took 800 men over 12 years to build between 1948-1960 with over 300 000 tonnes of cement used to create large interlocking blocks. In 2002, the auxiliary spillway was built in case of a rare extreme flood so floodwaters could be diverted around the dam.  

Our day started at the visitor center overlooking Lake Burragorang where we were overcome with beautiful views of the lake and how unexpectedly large it was.  Turning to the other side we were greeted with a steep decline of 142m. We journeyed down to the bottom of the dam and inside the dam walls where the pumps were located.

This excursion was a new experience that no one had done previously. Learning things in a more practical way outside of class allowed us to understand how important it is to not just keep the environment clean, especially around water, but also how important it is to not waste water particularly in drought. Given that the water in the Wingecarribee River flowing past Oxley College eventually ends up in Lake Burragorang, which is Sydney drinking water, we need to do our best to keep the environment around Oxley clean.  Attending this excursion in the lead up to exams helped students immensely and with that, thank you to the teachers who organised it.

Millie L, Year 8