Celebrating 116 years of picnics at Cataract Dam

Julie Howarth, of Batlow, fondly remembers family gatherings at Cataract Dam as a child in the 1960s, and with her own daughters in the 1990s.

“I grew up in Padstow, which wasn’t that far away from Cataract Dam,” Julie recalled. “We’d have Fathers’ Day picnics at the dam. Our extended family would congregate there and bring a picnic lunch.

“Dad used to bring bats that he’d made himself out of wood, and a tennis ball, and we’d have a go with the bats. It was just a nice day out,” Julie said.

In the 1990s, Julie continued the family tradition, taking her own daughters on picnics to Cataract Dam, sometimes with her brother’s family.

“When my youngest daughter was small, and my brother’s daughter was around the same age, they’d get their photos taken on a certain rock, or in a cave,” Julie said.

“There would be the five of them – my four daughters and my niece. Then the next time we went we’d take photos at the same spot when they were older."

“Not that I have any of the photos anymore – but someone in the family has them!”

In even earlier times almost a century ago, the NRMA was often quoted in newspaper articles promoting the beauty of Cataract and the other Upper Nepean dams.

“An Easy Week-End Car Trip” for “Splendid Views, Good Roads” said the NRMA touring department in The Sun newspaper on 18 June 1932. “The scenery around Cataract and Cordeaux is very fine, and picnic grounds are close to both.”

The Sun reported on 16 June 1934: “For those motorists who enjoy a run on unfrequented roads, the NRMA touring department suggest the following tour of 111 miles, embracing a fine variety of scenery.

“The trip, which offers a golden opportunity for a day’s picnic outing, takes the motorist into the pretty country on the Appin side of the Hume Highway,” The Sun newspaper reported in 1934.

In 1927, The Sun reported in ‘To Cataract and Cordeaux. Water Conservation Areas’: “Before embarking upon this pretty trip, there are two very important matters than require serious attention, the first being to obtain a permit from the offices of the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage… the second, and probably the most important from the ‘inner man’s’ point of view, is to prepare a hamper, as meals are unobtainable at either Cataract or Cordeaux.”

WaterNSW General Manager Regional Operations Sydney, Brian Mayhew, said WaterNSW is a proud custodian of Cataract Dam, along with the other Upper Nepean dams of Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean built before WWII.

“The rich history of these dams as a popular tourist destination last century is a legacy we’re proud to protect, along with their important continuing role in supplying Sydney’s water,” Brian said.

“Together our four Upper Nepean dams still provide up to 20% of Greater Sydney’s drinking water, including for people living in the Illawarra and south-western Sydney,” Brian said.

“At WaterNSW our people are at the source - capturing, storing and delivering water across the state, including for the more than 5.3 million people of Greater Sydney.”

Cataract Dam is about 84 kilometres drive south-west of Sydney, off the Appin-Bulli Road. Created by damming the Cataract River, construction started in 1902 and was completed in 1907, officially opening on 10 June 1908.

Together with Cordeaux Dam, Cataract's main role today is to supply water to Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly council areas via the Macarthur water filtration plant.

Together, the Nepean, Avon, Cataract and Cordeaux dams also provide an additional supply of water for Sydney, via Pheasants Nest Weir, Broughtons Pass Weir and the Upper Canal.

The Upper Nepean catchment south of Sydney is in one of the highest rainfall zones on the mid-NSW coast, and the area's rivers, located in narrow gorges, provide ideal dam sites.

As early as 1888, two weirs were built on the Cataract and Nepean rivers to capture this rainfall as part of the Upper Nepean Scheme to help meet Sydney's growing needs. Tunnels, canals and aqueducts - known as the Upper Canal - diverted the water 64 kilometres to Prospect Reservoir.