Lake Burragorang

Slipping beneath the surface of Lake Burragorang, time becomes fluid. Lake Burragorang isn’t just water. It’s a submerged world, holding the echoes of a valley lost. Imagine bustling towns like Burragorang itself, farmsteads carved from the rugged landscape, and even the dark mouths of coal mines, all now silently resting beneath the surface. This 2,031-gigalitre lake, cradled within the lower Blue Mountains, is more than just a picturesque vista. It’s Sydney’s main water source, a reservoir of life for a bustling metropolis. The Warragamba Dam, a concrete giant standing 142 meters tall and 351 meters long, holds back the combined flow of six rivers: the Coxs, Kowmung, Nattai, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, and Warragamba. These rivers, once carving their way through the valley, now feed this sprawling lake, which stretches 52 kilometers in length and boasts an astounding 354 kilometers of shoreline. Before the dam’s completion in 1960, the Burragorang Valley was home to the Gundungarra people. Their ancestral lands encompassed the valley, the Blue Mountains, and the Megalong Valley. Their stories and connection to this land are now woven into the fabric of the lake itself. The dam wall itself is a marvel. To cool the immense amount of concrete used during its construction, engineers employed two innovative techniques. They added ice to the wet concrete and embedded cooling pipes to circulate chilled water. This ingenious solution drastically reduced the cooling time from an estimated 100 years to just a few months. While Lake Burragorang is a vital resource, it’s also a place of restricted access. A 3-kilometer exclusion zone surrounds the lake, protecting the water supply. However, glimpses into this watery wilderness can be found through designated bushwalking corridors along the Coxs River to Mount Cookem and from Belloon Pass to Yerranderie. Though the hydroelectric power station, capable of generating 50 megawatts, has been disconnected from the grid since 2001, the lake’s story continues to unfold. From record lows during times of drought to overflowing abundance during periods of heavy rainfall, Lake Burragorang is a testament to nature’s power and human ingenuity. It’s a place where the past sleeps beneath the surface, while the present relies on its life-giving waters.