Wyangala facts for kids
Quick facts for kids WyangalaNew South Wales |
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Wyangala village, looking towards St Vincent's Church (permanently closed), corner of Waugoola and Wirong Rds.
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 Wyangala
Location in New South Wales
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| Postcode(s) | 2808 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 341 m (1,119 ft) | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| LGA(s) | Cowra Shire | ||||||||
| County | King County | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Cootamundra | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Hume | ||||||||
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Wyangala is a small village in the Lachlan Valley. It sits near where the Abercrombie and Lachlan rivers meet, just below the huge Wyangala Dam wall. This village is in the South West Slopes area of New South Wales, Australia. It's about 320 kilometres (200 miles) west of Sydney, the state capital. The name Wyangala also refers to the wider rural area around the village. This area includes the old mining town of Mount McDonald.
The village got its name from an Indigenous word. Its exact meaning isn't known, but it's thought to come from the Wiradjuri language. The Wiradjuri people were the first inhabitants of the Lachlan Valley. They had campsites along the rivers and in open areas. Their traditional way of life changed after British explorers, John Oxley and George William Evans, explored the valley in 1815. European settlers arrived in the 1830s.
The Wyangala village you see today was started in 1928. This was when the Wyangala Dam was being built. However, there was an older, spread-out settlement called Wyangala Flats in the same area. It was established in the 1840s. This older settlement was covered by water when Wyangala Dam was finished in 1935.
Wyangala grew a lot when the dam was being built. But its population became much smaller in the years that followed. Many houses were moved, and most businesses closed. Today, Wyangala has a small primary school, a Catholic church (now closed), sports fields, and parks. There are no very old buildings here. The village was originally built just to house the dam construction workers.
Contents
Discovering Wyangala
Attractions in the area include Lake Wyangala. This lake is used to make electricity, and it's popular for water sports and fishing. There's also a nine-hole golf course, walking trails, and mountain bike paths. The dam wall itself is 1.37 kilometres (0.85 miles) long. Wyangala has a warm climate with many native and exotic plants and animals. Some of these are threatened or endangered species. The plants, animals, and people of the village live in a hilly area. This landscape is mostly made of granite, with large rocks and boulders everywhere.
Wyangala's Past
First People and Early Settlers
The Wiradjuri people were the first guardians of the land around Wyangala. They were skilled hunters, fishers, and gatherers. They wore cloaks made from possum skins. They lived along river flats and in open areas near rivers. The Wiradjuri were, and still are, the largest Indigenous group in New South Wales. Their traditional lands covered the Macquarie, Lachlan, and Murrumbidgee rivers.
Scientists have found over 200 Wiradjuri campsites near Wyangala. This suggests that many Indigenous people lived in the area long ago. Campsites were on gentle hills, high points, and terraces near the Lachlan River.
The name 'Wyangala' comes from a Wiradjuri word. Its meaning is unknown. However, similar-sounding words in the Wiradjuri language might mean "troublesome" or "bad white." The village, located next to the Lachlan River, got its name from this word. The older settlement of Wyangala Flats also shared this name.
On May 27, 1815, Deputy Surveyor George William Evans was the first European to find the start of the Lachlan River. He named it after the NSW Governor, Lachlan Macquarie. Two years later, Lieutenant John Oxley, with Evans, explored the Lachlan River. They traveled 1,450 kilometres (900 miles) from where it joins the Belubula River to the Great Cumbung Swamp. As Oxley went down the Lachlan, he met the Wiradjuri people. He noticed their language was different from coastal Indigenous groups. Oxley had to turn back at the swamp because the land was too marshy. He thought the inside of Australia was "uninhabitable" and not good for settlement.
Despite Oxley's opinion, European settlement in the Lachlan Valley began a few years later. In 1831, Arthur Rankin and James Sloan, who raised cattle from Bathurst, were the first white settlers in the Valley. Moving onto Wiradjuri lands led to conflicts between the Indigenous people and the settlers. During this time, the government made new land available in the Wyangala area. By the 1840s, licenses to use land at Wyangala Flats were sold. By 1860, land lots at Wyangala were selling for £1 an acre. Until the dam was built in 1935, the land at Wyangala was mainly used to produce wool.
The conflicts with the Wiradjuri people became less common by the 1850s. This was because gold mining and new land laws brought more settlers. The large number of Europeans overwhelmed the Indigenous population. Their traditional lands were taken, sacred sites were destroyed, and new diseases were introduced. This led to the displacement and decline of the Wiradjuri people.
Gold and Bushrangers
Gold mining was common in the nearby Mount McDonald area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This started after gold was found in quartz rocks in 1880. Donald McDonald and his group found these gold-rich rocks while looking for gold near Wyangala. He found the gold by chance. He was returning to his camp when he saw something shiny under a tree. It was the first piece of gold, which led to finding two rich gold reefs. As news spread, miners came to the area, and the town of Mount McDonald slowly "grew in the midst of the forest." At its busiest, the town had:
about 600 people living there, plus many in the surrounding area. It had a school, at least one (Catholic) Church, banks, a general store... a doctor and the usual pubs.
—Frank Clune (1935)
By the late 1920s, gold mining decreased, and the town faded away. Today, only about 4 or 5 houses remain where Mount McDonald once stood.
Most gold mining happened at Mount McDonald. However, small amounts of gold and precious gems were also found along the Lachlan River at Wyangala in the early 1900s. But there wasn't enough to attract big businesses.
The discovery of gold in other parts of New South Wales led to more bushranger activity. In the 1860s and 1870s, the Lachlan Valley had problems with bushrangers. Famous gangs included those led by Frank Gardiner, John Gilbert, and Ben Hall. Frank Gardiner was one of the most successful bushrangers. His biggest robbery happened in 1862 at Eugowra Rocks. Gardiner, along with Ben Hall, John Gilbert, and others, robbed a "gold escort" carrying between £14,000 and £22,000 in gold and cash. It was believed that Gardiner told the gang members to bury their share of the gold in a mountain cave near Wyangala.
Somewhere on a rock-strewn mountain near the Fish River that empties into the Wyangala Dam, a fortune in stolen gold lies hidden.
—G.R. (1942)
Gardiner was supposed to signal the gang when it was safe to get the gold. This never happened, as Gardiner was sent to prison and later exiled to the United States. Five years after the robbery, an Irishman arrived in New South Wales with a rough map of the gold's location, supposedly drawn by Gardiner. Even with this map and years of searching, the gold was never found. By the late 1800s, better policing ended the bushranger era. Many bushrangers were imprisoned, exiled, or executed. This decrease in crime happened as more people moved to the region, telegraphs were introduced, and transport improved.
The 20th Century and Dam Building
By the early 1900s, the Lachlan Valley's growth was slowed by unreliable river flows. In 1902, the New South Wales government saw the need to save water. Repeated droughts and their effects on rivers were hurting farming and causing many animals to die. The government looked at solutions, including building a reservoir at Wyangala. Earlier studies had shown Wyangala was the only good spot for a large water storage. These early talks led to the building of the 1935 dam and the start of today's Wyangala village.
Building the 1935 Dam
To help the region grow and provide a steady water supply, a dam was needed to control the Lachlan River's flow. After the Burrinjuck Dam was finished on the Murrumbidgee River, work began on Wyangala Dam. The official start of the A£1.3 million project was on December 17, 1928. The NSW Premier, Sir Thomas Bavin, marked the start not by turning soil, but by setting off explosives. This removed tons of earth and rock.
The "galvanized-iron town of Wyangala" was built to house the construction workers. This land used to belong to the Green family, who were early settlers. By January 1930, Wyangala was a busy place. It had 450 workers and their families, and 74 children attended the new primary school. A local resident described it:
the township is progressing rapidly. The most important buildings are: One post and telegraph office, two stores, two bakers' shops, one police station, one medical practitioner, one butcher's shop, one public hall and school, one church, one boarding-house for the men employed at the works, one G.S. bank, one temporary power house, and about 40 private residences... When the dam is full the water will cover our house. I should think it will be a nice sight when completed. A new road has just been built from Woodstock to the dam. It runs through some wonderful scenery. A 32-passenger bus runs from Woodstock to the dam tri-weekly.
—Anonymous (1930)
The original settlement and cemetery were covered by water when the dam was finished in 1935.
Upgrading the Dam (1961–1971)
Wyangala failed to hold the surging floodwaters of the devastating 1952 deluge, which was greater than any water mass it had been designed to withstand.
—Joan Marriott (1988)
The original dam wasn't big enough to handle large floods. Also, the farming industry needed more water. So, Wyangala Dam was upgraded and made larger from 1961 to 1971. Workers and their families lived in temporary homes in the village. Like the 1935 build, these buildings were practical, not historical.
This ten-year, A£18 million project made the dam's storage capacity three times bigger. The upgraded lake covered 5,390 hectares (13,300 acres). It could hold 1,220,000 megalitres (320 billion US gallons) of water. This is two and a half times the volume of Sydney Harbour. The water came from a catchment of 8,300 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi).
The upgraded dam's opening ceremony was planned for February 8, 1971, with Sir Roden Cutler, Governor of NSW. But heavy rains and floods delayed it until August 6, 1971. Over 2,000 guests attended. After the dam opened, Wyangala's population dropped a lot. Houses used by workers were removed, leaving only the homes seen today below the dam wall.
Post Office, School, and Church
By March 1929, with dam construction underway, up to 60 letters arrived in the village every day or two. This happened whenever a vehicle traveled from Cowra to Wyangala. With over 350 workers and their families, not having a post office or telegraph office was a big problem. To fix this, the Wyangala Dam Post Office opened on March 14, 1929. The new post office used a special postmark.
Over the years, the village post office became very important. It provided postal services and sometimes banking services for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In later years, a manual telephone exchange was also located in the post office. The postmaster or postmistress ran both the telephone exchange and the post office. The telephone system became automatic in the late 1980s, and the post office closed in 1998.
Wyangala Dam Public School opened in 1929, soon after the post office. It was the second school in the area. Its main purpose was to teach the children of the dam construction workers. The school has been in three different places in the village. First, it was near the bowling club, then near the Vic Roworth Conference Center. In the 1960s, it moved to its current spot on Waugoola Road. There was an even earlier school at Wyangala, which opened 22 years before, but it closed in 1913.
The number of students at the school has changed a lot. It had over 70 students in 1930, 160 in the 1960s, over 20 in the early 1980s, and fewer than 10 in the 2000s.
The first church in Wyangala was a small building made of timber and corrugated iron. It was built during the 1935 dam construction. Like the school, it was first located near the country club, across from the bowling green. After the dam was finished, a man named Bert Priddle bought the church. He moved it to a property near Grenfell. It became an Anglican church on November 17, 1935, and was officially blessed on August 19, 1953.
The current church, St Vincent's, was built in the center of the village. Aub Murray led the building, with help from different church groups. It is made of cinder blocks with an iron roof. The church officially opened on November 19, 1954. The day after the opening, a storm knocked down the back wall of the church. This delayed the first mass until December 5, 1954.
Wyangala Community Life
Learning, Church, and Sports
The village has a small one-teacher primary school, Wyangala Dam Public School, on Waugoola Road. Students come from the nearby rural area, the villages of Wyangala and Darbys Falls, and the Mount McDonald hamlet. The school focuses on environmental education and creative arts. As of July 2022, the school is not operating due to low student numbers.
Not far from the school, also on Waugoola Road, is St Vincent's Catholic church. Sometimes, it serves as a community hall for village activities. It was part of the Parish of Cowra and the Diocese of Bathurst. Mass services used to be held on alternating Saturdays and Sundays. However, on December 16, 2023, the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst announced its permanent closure. Two other local churches, St Malachy's, Gooloogong, and St Brigid's, Woodstock, also closed.
Next to the village are a nine-hole golf course, a bowling green, tennis courts, and a cricket field. The Wyangala Country Club manages these facilities.
In August 2013, the Wyangala Cricket Oval was officially renamed Matt Morrison Oval. This was in honor of Matt Morrison, who had passed away earlier that year. He was known for helping develop the Wyangala Cricket Club oval and sponsoring the Wyangala Golf Club.
Sports clubs in Wyangala include fishing, cricket, golf, bowling, and ski clubs. The Fishing Club (Wyangala Danglers) holds regular events and fishing competitions. The Cricket Club plays in a district competition with teams from nearby towns like Carcoar, Morongla, Canowindra, Grenfell, and Cowra. The Golf Club has occasional challenges and events. The Bowling Club holds regular casual meetings. The Ski Club has a clubhouse on Main Beach of Wyangala Dam and hosts events throughout the year.
Food, Services, and Fun Activities
The Wyangala Country Club, on the hillside across from the village, has a restaurant called the Country Club Bistro. It also has a bar and entertainment. Locals gather at the club for sports meetings, discussions about village issues, and other community activities.
The village Service Station and store is located at the entrance to the nearby Wyangala Waters State Park. The store sells fishing and camping supplies, as well as take away food and other items.
Wyangala has two conference venues. One is the Vic Roworth Conference Center in the village. The other is the community hall in Wyangala Waters State Park. Both can seat dozens of people.
There is one holiday house in the village, near Wyangala Dam Public School. More places to stay are at Wyangala Waters State Park. It has many powered and unpowered camping sites, five bungalows, three cottages, one lodge, seven cabins, and Jayco ensuite cabins.
As early as the mid-1930s, Wyangala was seen as a major tourist spot and important fishing area for the Lachlan Valley. Reg Hailstone, a community leader in the 1940s and 1950s, dreamed of turning Wyangala into a "national playground" and resort. While Wyangala never became a huge "tourist resort," Hailstone's vision for a national playground came true over the years.
Lake Wyangala (the water stored in the Dam) is a popular place for fishing. In spring and summer, Lake Wyangala is also used for water sports like canoeing, jet-skiing, sailing, swimming, and water skiing. There are walking and mountain bike trails through the bushland near the village and the State Park. You can also hire a houseboat to explore the lake and catch fish. The Waterslides in the Park are currently not working. Dissipater Park, just below the Dam wall, has BBQ facilities for picnics.
The 1.37 kilometre (0.85 mile) long Dam wall is a famous landmark in the Lachlan Valley. It is 85 metres (279 feet) high, which is as tall as a 25-story building. Its base is 304 metres (997 feet) wide. You can see it from different spots around the village and from nearby lookouts. You can also see it from many kilometres away on Darbys Falls Road. In the past, you could drive across the top of the wall. However, since June 2014, vehicles are no longer allowed. This happened after a new road (Trout Farm Road) and bridge were built downstream of the village.
Wyangala's Location and Environment
Where is Wyangala?
Wyangala is in the Australian state of New South Wales. It's about 320 kilometres (200 miles) west of Sydney. It's located in an area called the South West Slopes. This region stretches from north of Cowra, through southern New South Wales, and down into western Victoria.
In the 2011 census census, Wyangala had 227 people. About 45% were female and 55% were male. The average age was 54 years, which is 17 years older than the Australian average. About 78% of people in Wyangala were born in Australia. Other countries of birth included England (5.7%), Finland (1.8%), and the Netherlands (1.8%). The main religions were Anglican (33.5%), Catholic (26.9%), and No Religion (18.1%).
About 60% of people in Wyangala work full-time, and 32% work part-time. The unemployment rate is 4%. The main jobs are Managers (21.3%), Labourers (16%), and Technicians and Trades Workers (14.9%). The average rent in Wyangala is $100 per week, and the average mortgage payment is $800 per month.
Water Resources
The Lachlan Valley is a region in New South Wales (NSW). It stretches from Crookwell in the east to Oxley in the west. It covers a catchment area of 84,700 square kilometres (32,700 sq mi), which is 10% of NSW. It's one of Australia's most important farming areas, producing 14% of the state's agricultural goods. Lake Wyangala is the only major water storage in the Valley. It supplies water to over 88,000 hectares (220,000 acres) of irrigated land. Besides farming, water from the dam is used for industries, mining, recreation, homes, towns, and protecting water habitats.
A hydro-electric power station is located below the Wyangala Dam wall, next to the village, at Dissipater Park. It produces an average of 42.9 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year. This is enough electricity to power almost 6,400 three-person households in the area.
Plants, Animals, and Landscape
Wyangala has many different native and introduced plants and animals. This includes species that are vulnerable, threatened, and endangered. Here are some of the plants and animals found in and around the village:
| Plants | Mammals | Birds | Reptiles | Amphibians | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acacia | Eastern bentwing bat | Brown treecreeper | Bobtail | Booroolong frog | ||||
| Bathurst burr | Eastern grey kangaroo | Diamond firetail | Eastern brown snake | Common eastern froglet | ||||
| Cypress pine | Echidnas | Galah | Eastern ctenotus | Lesueur's frog | ||||
| Eucalyptus | Greater long-eared bat | Laughing kookaburra | Eastern snake-necked turtle | Peron's tree frog | ||||
| Hoary sunray | Native mice | Red-browed finch | Marbled gecko | Red-crowned toadlet | ||||
| Native grasses | Rabbits | Regent honeyeater | Nobbi dragon | Sloane's froglet | ||||
| Native flowers | Spotted‐tail quoll | Speckled warbler | Rich ctenotus | Tyler's toadlet | ||||
| Scotch thistle | Sugar glider | Superb parrot | Thick-tailed gecko | White's tree frog |
For major fish species in Lake Wyangala and the Lachlan River, see Attractions.
The plants and animals live in an area known as the Lachlan Fold Belt. This area has folded and faulted rocks. Early Silurian Wyangala Granite has pushed into and changed older Ordovician rocks like greywackes and volcanic ash.
The local Wyangala landscape has granite rock outcrops and large boulders scattered across hilly land. This greatly affects the soils of the area, which are mostly formed from weathered granite. The soils range from fragile, shallow stony soils on steep slopes to naturally acidic and sodic soils on lower slopes. These soils can easily degrade, erode, lose nutrients, and become salty.
The climate in Wyangala is warm and temperate, with a good amount of rainfall throughout the year. It's classified as Cfa by the Köppen climate classification. The average yearly temperature in Wyangala is 15.2°C (59.4°F). It receives about 600 millimetres (24 inches) of precipitation. January is the warmest month, with an average temperature of 23.9°C (75.0°F). In July, the average temperature drops to 7.9°C (46.2°F), which is the lowest of the year.
The difference in rainfall between the driest and wettest months is 17.5 millimetres (0.69 inches). Average temperatures change by 16°C (29°F) during the year.
Wyangala in Recent Times
Earthquake in 2006
In October 2006, a magnitude 4 earthquake was felt across the New South Wales Central West. Its center was at Wyangala. An earthquake of this size is called "Light" on the Richter scale. It usually causes objects inside to shake and rattle. The State Water Corporation checked Wyangala Dam for damage. They found that the pressure and seepage gauges were not affected. Also, no damage or injuries were reported in the village or the State Park.
Dam Wall Road Closure
In 2009, NSW State Water Corporation announced plans to close the public road over Wyangala Dam wall permanently. This was due to new security rules and safety requirements. This new policy was to happen with a big upgrade and increase in the dam wall's height. State Water suggested a different way to access Wyangala via Mount McDonald Road. This news made locals angry. They felt the problems of such a change had not been thought through. Concerns included:
- How children would get to Wyangala Dam Public School. They would have to travel 60 kilometres (37 miles) instead of 5 kilometres (3.1 miles).
- Local workers on the "wrong" side of the dam wall not being able to make the long detour.
- The dangers of the narrow curves on Mount McDonald Road.
- How long it would take emergency services to reach Wyangala.
- A possible drop in visitors to Wyangala Waters State Park and Wyangala Country Club. It was thought that over 75% of visitors came via the Dam wall road.
The concerns from locals, emergency services, and local councils led to a review of the decision. A report by Ian Armstrong suggested building a bridge across the Lachlan River, downstream of the village. This would provide another way to access Wyangala. Most locals accepted this as the only good option, even though some people affected by the new road and bridge disagreed.
In June 2014, the bridge (Wyangala Bridge) and new road (Trout Farm Road) were finished.
Water Slides Removed
At the start of 2013, Wyangala Waters State Park looked for companies to remove the water slides from the Park. The slides hadn't been used because Park management couldn't find a suitable operator. This unexpected announcement led to a big campaign to save the slides.
After the public outcry, the former NSW Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, paused the plans to remove the slides. He also decided to appoint a group to review the slides' future. Locals and the shire mayor, Bill West, welcomed this decision. They saw the slides as "a very important tourist attraction... and popular part of Cowra Shire." No final decision has been made about the slides' future.
School Closure Concerns
In 2015, only 5 students were attending Wyangala Dam Public School. This big drop in numbers was because the Wyangala community's population was getting older, and there weren't many new young families in the village. So, the school was at risk of closing if student numbers didn't increase. A meeting was held on June 23, 2015, with the Director of Public Schools Orange Network. Village residents and current and former students could ask questions and argue for keeping the school open. The NSW Department of Education and Training has not yet made a final decision about the school's future. In 2015, village residents formed a group to start a campaign to attract new students. This campaign continued for several years. Despite these efforts, the school is currently not operating due to low student numbers (see community section).
Fuel Services
In May 2018, fuel supply services at Wyangala, along with several other inland waterways, were closed. This was due to health and safety concerns and a need to upgrade existing facilities. Visitors were also not allowed to bring their own fuel until a storage solution was found. This forced them to refuel in nearby Cowra. After a short bidding period, Petrolink Engineering was chosen in October 2018 to replace the fuel facilities. They aimed to restore fuel services before Christmas 2018, but they were not back until February 2019.
Raising the Dam Wall Height
In 2018, former New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Water, Niall Blair, suggested making the Wyangala Dam wall 10 metres (33 feet) higher. This was "to give greater water security for residents and farmers along the Lachlan River." The change in height was meant to increase storage by 50% and provide more capacity during floods. Besides the direct costs of the enlargement, current camping areas and other buildings would need to be moved due to higher water levels.
In October 2019, A$650 million was set aside to raise the dam wall by the suggested 10 metres (33 feet). This 650 gigalitres (170 billion US gallons) increase in dam storage was to be funded equally by the State and Federal governments of Australia. The Deputy Prime Minister at the time, Michael McCormack, said "the project was a significant investment for the future," helping secure water supplies during droughts. Work was planned to begin in 2020 and finish by 2025.
As of October 2023, the proposed upgrade has been cancelled. This is due to increased costs and environmental concerns.
