Wyangala Dam

Central to the Lachlan Valley

DAM LEVEL

96%

CAPACITY

1,217GL

SIZE OF LAKE

54 KM2

The second major dam built for irrigation in NSW when construction began in 1928, Wyangala Dam helped drive the economic development of the Lachlan Valley as a major food producing region. Today the dam continues to support irrigated agriculture across the valley around Cowra, Forbes, Condobolin and Hillston. It also supplies stock and household needs for landholders and towns along the Lachlan River, environmental flows, flood mitigation and hydroelectricity. The lake is a popular sport and recreation destination.

Look out points

Wyangala Bridge

Drive across the new bridge downstream of the dam for impressive views of the wall and large spillway gates, and downstream along the Lachlan River.

Wyangala Road

Elevated views of the dam wall, lake and valley are available on Wyangala Road south of the spillway.

Wyangala Waters Park

  • Office is open 9am to 5pm daily
  • Phone 02 6345 0877
  • Day entry is $15

Grabine Lakeside Park

  • Office is open 9am to 5pm daily
  • Phone 02 4835 2345
  • Day entry is $12

HOURS - Entry is free

  • Open 24 hours

TOP SAFETY TIPS

  • Wear a life jacket
  • Supervise your children
  • Look out for underwater hazards
  • Keep a safe distance when boating
  • Follow all algae alerts

Learn more about safety at our sites.

REPORT A HAZARD OR INCIDENT

Please phone 1800 061 069

In an emergency call 000

We’re the people taking care of the state’s water at the source – capturing, storing, delivering. Learn more about WaterNSW.

Facilities

Boat ramps icon

Boat ramps

Camping

Camping

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Children’s Playground

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Picnic Shelters

Shower icon

Shower facilities

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Toilets

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Visitor centre

Things to do

Camp

Wyangala Dam accommodation options range from cottages, cabins and houseboats to powered and unpowered sites at two caravan parks on the lake foreshores. Reflections Holiday Park - Wyangala Waters is about 8 kilometres north of the dam wall and best accessed from Cowra. Reflections Holiday Park - Grabine Lakeside is located on the dam’s eastern foreshore and is best accessed from Crookwell or Goulburn. Both parks have a kiosk, picnic shelters, boat ramps, toilet, shower and barbecue facilities, and a range of accommodation options. Grabine Lakeside has group accommodation in bunkhouses.

Water sports

The lake is a popular spot for all water sports including skiing, jet skis, sailing, canoeing and swimming. Boat ramps are available at Wyangala Waters and Grabine Lakeside parks.

Fishing

Wyangala Dam is stocked with Murray cod, golden perch (yellow belly) and brown and rainbow trout. Redfin, catfish, Macquarie perch, sliver perch and carp are also caught.

Map and directions

Wyangala Dam is about 50 kilometres south-east of Cowra in Central West NSW. Cowra is about 320 kilometres west of Sydney via the Great Western and Mid Western highways.

Restrictions

Restrictions are in place to protect our water supply and ensure that everyone has an enjoyable and safe visit - with penalties up to $44,000 applying:

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No model aircraft or drones

Recreation Areas at WaterNSW dams will be closed on ALL Total Fire Ban days.

Facts and History

Wyangala Dam is situated on the junction of the Lachlan and Abercrombie rivers about 48 kilometres upstream from Cowra in Central West NSW. The dam is about 320 kilometres west of Sydney.

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WYANGALA DAM

Facts and History

Wyangala Dam is situated on the junction of the Lachlan and Abercrombie rivers about 48 kilometres upstream from Cowra in Central West NSW. The dam is about 320 kilometres west of Sydney.

Wyangala Dam’s storage capacity of 1,217,000 megalitres is more than twice the volume of Sydney Harbour.

The dam is named after Wyangala Station, one of the properties on which it was built.

Why the dam was built

By the early 1900s it was clear that further development of the Lachlan Valley required a dam to regulate variable river flows. Following completion of NSW’s first dam for irrigation – Burrinjuck on the Murrumbidgee River – worked started in 1928 on the state’s second major irrigation dam, Wyangala on the Lachlan River.

When completed in 1935, Wyangala was designed to irrigate 15,000 hectares along the upper reaches of the Lachlan River, supply water to people and stock over an area of half a million hectares and open up a quarter of a million hectares west of Eubalong for settle and development as wheat farms.

Today the dam provides water for a far larger area following the dam’s enlargement in 1971 and fourfold increase in storage capacity. Pasture and lucerne now have the largest combined irrigated area, followed by cereals and other crops such as oilseeds and legumes. The dam also irrigates cotton around Hillston and smaller areas of vineyards around Cowra.

How the dam was built

Construction of Wyangala Dam began in 1928 and finished in 1935. Hundreds of workers lived on-site at Wyangala township in cottages and barracks. They used steam engines and manual labour to build the wall, with a railway line transporting materials to the site.

The original structure at Wyangala was a mass concrete gravity dam 58.8 metres high with a storage capacity of 374,860 megalitres and a surface area of 25.2 square kilometres.

The dam was later enlarged with a rock-fill embankment with a clay core built downstream of the original concrete wall. Enlargement work began in 1961 and finished in 1971. A new spillway capable of withstanding a very severe flood was built, along with a road bridge over the spillway and new low level and high level outlets.

Raising the crest 23.5 metres increased the storage capacity by almost four times to 1,220,000 megalitres with a lake surface area of 53.9 square kilometres. The rock-fill embankment also strengthened the structure to meet modern dam safety standards. The original concrete dam wall can be seen when the water level falls below 30 percent.

Later improvements

To meet modern dam safety standards and increase dam safety in the event of extreme flooding, in 2009 the walls of the downstream spillway chute were raised. Work is currently underway to install a gate raising and locking system so the dam’s radial gates can be raised and locked open in the very rare likelihood of an extreme flood. A new bridge was built downstream of the dam wall as part of the upgrade for vehicle access across the river.

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WaterNSW acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which we work and pay our respects to all elders past, present and emerging. Learn more