Went for one of my drives yesterday. Didn’t go too far or for too long – hubby is at home so didn’t want to spend too long away. My destination was Googong Dam, the youngest and largest of the catchment dams in the Canberra/Queanbeyan water system (for those who are interested, more info http://www.actewagl.com.au/water/catchment/default.aspx)
I used to be quite knowledgeable about the dam system here – I was the main water use reporter at the Chronicle. There’s been some interesting stuff being proposed around here – at one point the ACT Government wanted to go with recycled water and had the system designed (I believe this is still on the backburner). At the moment, they’re enlarging the Cotter Dam to double it’s size (Cotter is by far the smallest of the dams, so we’re not talking a huge increase in the water supply). When I left, the major issue for Queanbeyan (who technically buys its water from the ACT) was that the ACT Government had just started two new infrastructure levys, which Queanbeyan Council were refusing to pay because a) we’re in NSW, so why pay an ACT tax? and b) we didn’t use that much of the infrastructure. Last I heard the court case was in the Federal Court – must find out where that went to.*
Anyhoo, Googong is, as I said, the largest dam in the catchment. It’s about eight ks south of where I live, and was built in the late 70s. Apart from creating a (when full) 121 gigilitre lake (compared to Sydney Harbour, which all water courses are, it’s a tad over a fifth the size), the dam also stopped the regular flooding of Queanbeyan (which was at times disastrous – the worst being the year the cemetary was washed away and coffins ended up bobbing in Lake Burley Griffin – one of my favourite stories ever!).
This is Googong Dam -
This is the lake at the moment (it’s about half full) -
Googong Foreshores is run by the ACT Parks and Wildlife Service. You can go on a few walks, which are quite nice, or have a barbecue or picnic. You can go out on the lake (although not in boats with any sort of petrol prepulsion ). There is a swimming hole, but it’s closed at the moment cause they’re working on the spillway.
I went for a walk, and it was very pleasant. As you can see from the photos, it was one of those glorious Canberra winter afternoons where the sun shines, there’s no wind and you can break into a sweat and strip down to a tshirt if you try hard enough (I almost got there but didn’t want to carry my jumper).
At the moment, there’s quite a few islands in the middle of the lake – I’d love to see it again when almost full to ascertain how many get covered up (although I think it’s likely I’ll never see the lake full in my lifetime).
So if you’re looking for something to do on a beautiful winter afternoon in Canberra, I can recommend grabbing your camera, something picknicky and heading out to Googong.
On the way home, I stopped and took a pic of the massive quarry just over the other side of the hill from my place. Why? Cause I could.
* Latest on the court case – as of June 1, still ongoing. The Federal Court upheld Queanbeyan’s position on one levy, dismissed on the other. Both Queanbeyan and the ACT Government are counter-appealing.