20/02/2026
20 February 1940,, photograph taken showing Woronora Dam under construction and nearing completion.
The Woronora Dam was built specifically to supply water to communities south of the Georges River. It was the fifth and last of the dams built before World War II to provide a secure water supply for Sydney, prior to the completion of Warragamba Dam in 1960.
Construction of Woronora Dam began in 1927 but stopped for four years during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, forcing workers to look elsewhere for employment until the project started again. The dam was finally completed in 1941. The dam wall has a height of 66 metres (217 ft) and a length of 390 metres (1,280 ft). A separate, serpentine overflow spillway discharges floodwater through a concrete lined cutting into the river downstream of the dam. The dam and water filtration plant supply water to the areas south of the Georges River including Sutherland Shire and northern Illawarra suburbs. To meet modern dam safety standards, Woronora Dam was upgraded in 1988 with a system of drains in the wall and foundations and added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on the 18 November, 1999.
Six of the original worker’s cottages were retained for on-site maintenance staff housing while the rest of Woronora township site was turned into picnic and recreational areas.
[Photo courtesy State Library of NSW]
