94 The Water Supply of Sydney. 



the embankment proposed by Mr. F. Clarke, and recommends 

 instead that a trench should be dug at the lower part of Lachlan 

 Swamp, and the water pumped from thence to a reservoir at 

 Paddingtou, 207 feet above sea level. With regard to a per- 

 manent supply, the relative merits of George's River, Cook's 

 River, the Nepean, and Lord's Dam at the mouth of the stream 

 draining the Lachlan and other swamps, are discussed, and the 

 preference is given to the last-named source. It is recommended, 

 however, that this supply be supplemented by the drainage east- 

 ward as far as Bunnerong, and westward to Shea's Creek and 

 Cook's River. Before any action could be taken on this report — 

 before indeed it was handed in — the Governor (Sir Charles Fitz 

 Roy) appointed in January, 1852, a board of five gentlemen to 

 examine the question afresh. Their report (remarkable chiefly 

 for its length) was laid before the Legislature in August of the 

 same year. They did not take up, as the City Committee had 

 done, the merits of different schemes, but restricted themselves 

 to an examination of the Botany Swamps, as being undoubtedly 

 the best available source ; and they recommended that the stream 

 flowing down from Lachlan Swamp should be intercepted at a 

 point about a mile and a half above Lord's Dam, and the water 

 pumped up to a reservoir at Paddingtou, capable of holding twelve 

 million gallons. They held that a supply of about twenty gallons 

 per head would be sufficient, while the City Committee assumed 

 that forty gallons ought to be provided. 



Un the 1st January, 1854, the management of the city passed 

 from the hands of an elective Council to three Commissioners 

 appointed by the Governor ; and this arrangement lasted for 

 three years. The Commissioners took up zealously the question 

 of water supply, and passed speedily from inquiry to action. In 

 1854 (a very dry year in Sydney), they erected a small pumping 

 engine at the lower part of the Lachlan Swamp for the purpose 

 of throwing more water into the tunnel, — by this adding about 

 150,000 gallons to the daily delivery ; and at the same time they 

 entered on the necessary preliminaries for obtaining a new and 

 more abundant supply from the lower end of the stream, at 

 Lord's Dam It was not, however, till November, 1858, that the 

 pumping engines at Botany were set to work, and that system of 

 of supply commenced which we enjoy at the present time. Since 

 then we have experienced some very dry seasons, and occasionally 

 the pumps have not been fully served by the stream ; but the 

 Municipal Council has always been on the alert, and on the whole, 

 Sydney has been fairly supplied with water. Every dry season, 

 however, has stimulated a fresh inquiry. In 1862 only 24 inches 

 of rain fell, and a select committee of the Legislative Assembly 

 was appointed to investigate the state of the water reserves. 

 1865-6 were rather dry, (each year giving about 36 inches of rain), 



