Warragamba Location - Western outskirts of Sydney, 20km from Penrith.
The gateway to Sydney's water supply, the village of Warragamba is a quiet retreat nestled by the side of Warragamba Dam at a height of 160 metres above sea level with a population of 1535.Silverdale now has a population of over 9,000.
Early settlers needed to cross The Blue Mountains. In 1802 Governor King instructed Ensign Barrallier to find a way. He discovered the Burragorang Valley but turned back to Picton, before he reached today's Warragamba.
George Caley started from the Nepean River and crossed at a shallow spot, now known as Bents Basin. The dense forest at today's Silverdale and the great gorges, which are now the water filled Warragamba Dam, forced him back.
On 28 November 1810 Governor Macquarie and a party of ladies and gentlemen were rowed up the Nepean River from Regentville. They reached another river, which Governor Macquarie named the Warragamba. His Aboriginal guide told him this was the name of the tribe of Aborigines, who lived on it.
In 1811 Ellis Bent Esq. was given a huge land grant at the present day Greendale. When he sold it instead of settling on it Governor Macquarie was very angry.
Wentworth, Lawson and Blaxland crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813. Gregory Blaxland's brother, John Blaxland, received and land grant that stretched from present day Luddenham to Silverdale.
In 1816 and 1817 great floods rolled down the Nepean-Hawkesbury.
From 1820 onwards large land grants were made such as to Wentworth, Norton, Cox, who built the Glenmore Mansion - now the Glenmore Golf Club House. Villages developed, churches were built, bushrangers like Jack Donohoe, began bushranging crimes which led to the formation of the Military Mounted Police - the NSW Police Force of today.
Why the Dam came to be built at Warragamba
Great droughts hit the Colonies in 1839, 1842 and floods raged in 1857, 1864 with the greatest flood in recorded history on 20 June 1867. The rapid growth of population, especially with the gold rushes in the 1850s, and the contrasts of " droughts and flooding rains" forced a search for a reliable and permanent water supply.
A Commission of Inquiry was appointed by the Governor in 1867. In 1869 Lieutenant Thomas Moore recommended the construction of 52 metre high masonry dam on the Warragamba River.
This recommendation was judged as too expensive and difficult and other solutions were found. The cycles of drought and flooding rain continued and the Warragamba Dam idea continued to be put in the too hard basket. Then came the drought of 1934 - 1942 and, at one stage, only six weeks' water supply for the Sydney region remained.
It was decided to start building the dam with Stage 1 called : The Warragamba Emergency Scheme, which was completed in 18 months.
World War II further deferred the building of the dam. Between 1942 and 1946 extensive geological investigations tried to find the best place for the dam. Construction work finally began in 1948.
Why there?
The Warragamba River was the only outlet for a vast catchment area and it flows naturally through a deep, narrow 22 kilometre gorge - a natural dam. Water flows from a 9,050 square kilometre area , from Robertson in the east to Crookwell in the west, Goulburn in the south and Lithgow in the north, into the Warragamba Dam.
Construction of the dam started in 1948. Many workers were needed and they needed somewhere to stay. Soon the Warragamba Township. The Dam was completed in 1960.
Warragamba and Silverdale.
The town of Warragamba is a quiet retreat nestled by the side of Warragamba Dam. A visit to the town reveals some quaint shops, houses and narrow streets giving visitors insight into life during the construction of the dam.