Burrinjuck Dam (pic by Michelle Bond)

Burrinjuck
Major dam for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area
Located 34 km southwest of Yass and 339 km south west of Sydney, Burrinjuck Dam (also known as Lake Burrunjuck) is a major dam on the Murrumbidgee River below its junction with the Goodradigbee and Yass Rivers.

The Dam was built as part of the grand scheme to provide regular water to the dry lands of the Riverina. The scheme aimed to provide water to lands now known as the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. The scheme was largely the result of the labours of an Irish emigrant, Samuel McCaughey, who arrived in Australia in 1856. By the 1860s McCaughey was buying up land in the Riverina. In 1899 he purchased property on the banks of the Murrumbidgee near Yanco. In order to conserve water he built a dam and a number of channels which allowed him to increase the land's productivity. By 1906 the NSW government had established a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works and was hearing from people eager to establish dams along the Murrumbidgee. As a result of this initiative a dam was planned at Barren Jack (the term supposedly meant 'steep mountain' in the language of the local Wiradjuri Aboriginal language - it was eventually changed to 'burrinjuck') near Yass. The dam was built, the new towns of Leeton and Griffith were developed in anticipation of extensive irrigation in the Riverina, and by 1912 the dam was beginning to fill. The dam wall was not completed until 1957.

Today Lake Burrinjuck covers 5,500 hectares, has a shoreline of 645 kilometres, holds 2.5 times the water in Sydney Harbour and supplies 1.2 megalitres of water to the Riverina thus ensuring the continuing prosperity of the towns in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

Things to see:  

The Lady BJ on Burrinjuck Dam (pic Michelle Bond)

Burrinjuck Waters State Park
The foreshores of the lake are a popular camping destination offering 38 accommodation units, powered and unpowered camping and a well-stocked kiosk. The telephone contact is (02) 6227 8114. The lake itself is ideal for fishing (bream, yellow belly trout, Murray cod), boating, waterskiing and the shores are ideal for picnics. The area around the lake has attracted kangaroos and rosellas in vast numbers.

	Cottages & Cabins
	Burrinjuck Waters State Park Burrinjuck Dam Rd Burrinjuck NSW 2582 Telephone: (02) 6227 8114
	Caravan Parks
	Burrinjuck Waters State Park Burrinjuck Dam Rd Burrinjuck NSW 2582 Telephone: (02) 6227 8114