Pindari Dam
Downstream from the Severn River Nature Reserve
DAM LEVEL
49%
CAPACITY
312GL
SIZE OF LAKE
11 KM2
Pindari Dam is a popular sport and recreation destination north of Inverell near the NSW-Queensland border, offering year-round attractions for water sports and fishing enthusiasts, nature lovers, bushwalkers, campers and picnickers. Pindari Dam operates with Queensland’s Glenlyon Dam to meet irrigation, stock and household needs in the Border Rivers valley.
Look out points
Dam wall
Walk across the dam wall for views of the lake and valley. The wall is 954 metres long and 85 metres high.
Camping ground
The dam’s camping ground provides panoramic views of the lake, rocky bluffs and densely wooded bushland.
Inverell Tourist information Centre
- Phone 02 6728 8161
HOURS
- 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.
Barbecues
Boat ramps
Camping
Picnic Shelters
Toilets
Untreated water (not suitable for drinking)
Facilities
- The children’s play area, picnic tables, boat ramp, camping areas, showers and toilets are run by Inverell Shire Council.
Please note: Untreated water (not suitable for drinking).
Things to do
Camp
Camping is available for free at a small camping ground just south of the dam wall. There are unpowered sites for caravans and camping and a modern amenities block with toilets and solar hot water showers.
Water sports
Water sports include skiing, jet skis, sailing, canoeing and swimming. A concrete boat ramp is available at the main camping ground near the dam wall on the southern foreshore dependent on water levels.
Fishing
Murray cod, golden perch (yellow belly) and silver perch are the top catches. Redfin, catfish and carp are also caught.
Map and directions
Pindari Dam is 80 kilometres north-east of Inverell near the NSW - Queensland border. Inverell is about 570 kilometres north of Sydney via the Pacific and New England highways and Thunderbolts Way.
No smoking within 10 metres of children's playgrounds and four metres of shelters, toilets and public buildings
No firearms or archery
Keep to vehicle speed limits and be aware of pedestrians
No model aircraft or drones
Facts and History
Pindari Dam is situated on the Severn River about 22 kilometres upstream of Ashford and 80 kilometres north-east of Inverell near the NSW-Queensland border. The dam is about 650 kilometres north-west of Sydney.
Find out more
PINDARI DAM
Facts and History
Pindari Dam is situated on the Severn River about 22 kilometres upstream of Ashford and 80 kilometres north-east of Inverell near the NSW-Queensland border. The dam is about 650 kilometres north-west of Sydney.
The dam has a capacity of 312,000 megalitres, three-quarters the volume of Sydney Harbour.
Pindari is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘high rock’ and is the name of an early pastoral run near the dam.
Why the dam was built
Pindari Dam was the first major dam in northern NSW. Built in the late 1960s, it was enlarged in the 1990s to improve secure water supplies in the Border Rivers system.
Pindari Dam supplies regulated flows for irrigation, stock and domestic use, town water supplies and industrial use along the Severn and Macintyre rivers upstream of the Dumaresq River junction.
The dam provides town water for Ashford, Yetman, Boggabilla, Boomi and Mungindi, supports stock and household requirements to streams serviced by the Boomi River Trust, supplements supplies to NSW irrigators along the Border Rivers, and provides environmental flows.
A 5.5 megawatt hydroelectric power station uses irrigation, flood mitigation and environmental flows for generation.
How the dam was built
Pindari Dam is a rock-fill embankment wall with a concrete slab on the upstream face. The wall is 954 metres long and 85 metres high.
An unlined rock cutting spillway with a concrete sill is located just north of the dam wall. The cutting provided the rock-fill needed to build the dam wall.
An intake tower controls the quality and temperature of water released from the dam.
Construction began in 1967 and finished in 1969.
Later improvements
In 1994 the height of the dam wall was almost doubled from its original 45 metres and the dam’s storage capacity increased to 312,000 megalitres, more than eight times its original size.
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