Catchment Carers program takes water education into schools

Goulburn primary students become ‘water scientists’

Goulburn primary school students recently learnt how the things they do locally near the Wollondilly River can affect the drinking water of more than 5 million people in Sydney and beyond, as part of a visit by our water education experts.

“It’s part of our new Catchment Carers program where we are taking to the road to deliver our water education activities at schools in Sydney’s drinking water catchment,” WaterNSW Executive Manager Corporate Affairs, Clair Cameron, said.

“These incursions to local schools allow us to share some of the wonderful educational experiences previously only available to schools who visit our Warragamba Dam Visitor Centre.

“In Goulburn, students as young as 5 and 6 years of age became water scientists to explore some of the creatures living in local waterways, learn about the water cycle, catchments and pollutants, and make models of a healthy drinking water catchment.”

WaterNSW’s education team delivered hands-on activities to Kindy, Year 1 and 2 students at Goulburn North and Goulburn East public schools last week, and to Year 5 and 6 students as part of the Wingecarribee Schools Environment Day at Camp Wombaroo.

Take-home materials were provided to extend the reach of the program to families living in the catchment, increasing awareness around the role of WaterNSW.

student with catchment model
This Hampton Public School student enjoyed exploring a working model of a drinking water catchment when WaterNSW educators visited schools in the Lithgow region late last year.
studying bugs with magnifying glass
Students enjoyed taking a closer look at a water bugs during a hands-on workshop about caring for drinking water catchments when WaterNSW visited Goulburn East Public School last week.

WaterNSW education programs delivering excellence

The Warragamba Dam Visitor Centre hosts over 70,000  visitors each year, as well as more than 3,500  pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary students and educators in face-to-face, curriculum-linked excursions.

“Our free excursion programs offer the chance for students to explore all aspects of water supply and learn about water through interactive activities,” Clair said.

“To make these education experiences more widely available to schools who can’t access our programs for geographic or socioeconomic reasons, our education team created an accessibility initiative to deliver incursions at schools in Sydney’s declared drinking water catchment.

“We identified schools more than 70km from Warragamba Dam and targeted the Southern Highlands and Lithgow regions to deliver incursions to local primary schools.”

As well as the recent Goulburn incursions, last year WaterNSW delivered the program to 160 students at four primary schools in the Southern Highlands, and to 70 students at three primary schools near Lithgow.

Teacher feedback included: “Students really benefited during the hands-on activities from the initial explanation of key facts. By learning the facts about various water way pollutants before the activities, meant they really knew what they were doing and engaged in great learning”.

sampling fish in pond
Collecting ‘samples’ of aquatic creatures was another activity during WaterNSW incursions to Goulburn schools last week. Goulburn is part of Greater Sydney’s drinking water catchment which covers 16,000 square kilometres and is home to 125,000 people living in 13 local council areas.
student dam inspectors
Students at Goulburn East Public School also became dam inspectors when learning about WaterNSW’s role and managing the dams that supply water to more than 5 million people of Sydney and the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Goulburn and Shoalhaven regions.

Protecting Sydney’s drinking water catchment

Sydney’s drinking water catchment covers 16,000 square kilometres, stretching from Warragamba Dam south as far as Goulburn, and west across the Blue Mountains to Lithgow.

WaterNSW works to protect the health the Greater Sydney drinking water catchment and operates the dams that supply water to more than 5 million people of Sydney and the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Goulburn and Shoalhaven regions.

“It is part of our role at WaterNSW to actively educate within the community,” Clair said.

“We have a dedicated range of educational programs facilitated by our education team based at the Warragamba Dam Visitor Centre, and we’re now delighted to be taking some of these experiences out and directly into schools.”

Lake Burragorang
Located about 65 kilometres west of Sydney in a narrow gorge, Warragamba Dam stores four times the amount of water in Sydney Harbour. Lake Burragorang’s catchment stretches as far south as Goulburn and west to Lithgow.
Educator with poo
A WaterNSW educator uses a stuffed toy poo emoji to explain that when poo from pets or farm animals washes from land into creeks, it makes our drinking water less healthy. More than one-third of Sydney’s drinking water catchment is agricultural land.

Related links

Excursion program

Published date: 1 April 2025

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