Lake Parramatta is a heritage-listed man-made reservoir and a recreational area located in North Parramatta, City of Parramatta, in the Western Sydney region of New South Wales, Australia. The masonry arch-walled dam across Hunts Creek was completed in 1856 to supply water for domestic purposes; and was operational until 1909. The dam has since been decommissioned and the lake and the surrounding nature reserve are a popular recreational area. The height of the dam wall is and it creates a lake with a maximum storage capacity of , with a surface area of approximately . Water from this dam was not reticulated until 1881 when it was required to augment the then dwindling water supply. The dam wall is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register in recognition of its significance relating to dam technology in Australia arch dams worldwide; and has an indicative listing on the Register of the National Estate. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 23 March 2012.

On 5 December 2012 the Governor proclaimed Lake Parramatta Reserve as a 'Wildlife Refuge’ under Section 68 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The proclamation was in recognition of the diversity of wildlife and threatened species which occur in the reserve. Swimming in Lake Parramatta was permitted between 1920 and 1940; and after a prolonged period of closure due to poor water quality, was reopened to the public in 2015. Entry to the reserve is from Lackey Street, .

History

Indigenous use

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Lake Parramatta are the Burramatagal and Bidjigal clans of the Darug people, an Aboriginal kinship group of Indigenous Australians. There is evidence of Aboriginal occupation within the boundaries of Lake Parramatta Reserve in the form of remnant shelters, hand stencils, flaking scars and deposits. It is possible that other sites were inundated with the construction of the dam in the 1850s.

The area was important to Aboriginal people because of the abundant fresh water and diverse range of food types. Records from 1804 exist of the Reserve's use as a pleasure ground, specifically around Hunts Creek.

Dam

From 1788 to 1909, Parramatta depended on the Parramatta River for its water supply. The history of public supply began in 1815 when a well was sunk for public use. In 1818 Governor Macquarie ordered a dam to be built across the Parramatta River. It was called the Town Dam and held about 30 million gallons of water (136 kL) which was delivered to houses and factories by privately operated water carts. This dam still stands near Lennox Bridge and retains the pond through Parramatta Park. A second dam was built near the present Cumberland Hospital in 1831.

Description

The dam is located on Hunts Creek, within Lake Parramatta Reserve, 1.5 km north of the centre of the City of Parramatta.

Recreational use

<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|left|The swimming area within the lake. -->

When the water supply became insufficient for the growing demands, in 1909 Lake Parramatta was entrusted with its surrounds to the City of Parramatta as a recreational area. Between 1920 and 1940, the lake was a popular swimming hole with at one point the largest inland freshwater lifesaving club in Australia. By the late 1980s, the lack of consistently good water quality led to "No Swimming" signs being erected. After investigating different options the Council decided to allow swimming only on special event days. The first of these, called the Freshwater Festival, was held on 3 December 2006 featuring competitive swimming races from 10am till 12pm and public swimming from 1pm till 3pm, supervised by the Royal Life Saving Society Australia.

On Saturday 24 January 2015, Lake Parramatta officially became a designated swimming spot, with an area marked out with buoys for swimming and lifeguards present between 9am and 5pm on weekends and public holidays in the warm season. The reserve surrounding the swimming area includes recreational walking tracks within the scenic bushland, barbecue areas, children's playgrounds and a restaurant. Furthermore, visitors can also hire boats to explore the natural habitat.

Access

Road access to Lake Parramatta is by a convoluted journey down a number of innocuous suburban streets that means the lake is a feature unknown and elusive to a great many Sydneysiders – tucked away as it is. Visitors would take Bourke Street off Church Street, Parramatta. Then onto Lacey Street then Illawong Drive, passing under James Ruse Drive. Illawong Drive passes into the reserve and follows the eastern edge of the lake. When travelling by bus from the Parramatta Bus Interchange, the CDC NSW route 609 is an option. Sydney Trains' nearest station is at Parramatta.

Heritage listing

Lake Parramatta Dam was the first large dam built in Australia. It was "completed in 1856, practically simultaneously with and probably independently of the modern arch dams in Europe". The dam has an important place in the history of both dam technology in Australia and in the design of arch dams in the world.

  • The design of the dam is thought to have been a precursor to the use of the "cylinder" formula used by C. W. Darley in his design of thirteen thin arch dams constructed between 1896 and 1908 which aroused international attention.
  • The raising of the dam's height in 1898 by C. W. Darley was part of the earliest arch dam construction programs in the world, and attracted appropriate international attention.
  • The raising of the dam 3.3 m by the addition of a concrete ring was achieved without diminishing the integrity of the original structure.
  • The quality of the dam's design, construction and raising is demonstrated by it remaining in excellent condition and being able to withstand "probable maximum flood" conditions.
  • The dam remains the focus of an important social and recreational facility for Parramatta and surrounding district. The challenging road from Lapstone Hill to Mitchell's Pass in the Blue Mountains, bridges at Wollombi, Lansdowne and Duck Creek and the Queens Wharf at Sydney Cove are all attributed to Simpson.

Following colonial administrative positions in the 1830s, Simpson returned to Ireland in the 1840s to work on railways. He returned to Sydney in 1850 as a civil engineer and was involved in the radical new design and construction of Lake Parramatta Dam. He remained in Parramatta in the 1850s and 1860s serving as a district registrar.