In 1905, on the site of a natural wetland about 8km north-east of Rushworth, hundreds of men lined up with shovels on their shoulders to build Australia’s first major dam.
Over the next three years, these men and others using scoops, horses and drays, moved mountains of earth to transform Gunn’s Swamp into the fourth-largest inland waterway in Victoria - the Waranga Basin.
Folklore suggests that several workers may be buried in the banks of the 432,360 megalitre reservoir due to the dangerous nature of the work and to fatal alcohol-fuelled fights between the workers.
Waranga Basin was completed in 1908, and at the time of construction was described as one of the largest projects of its kind in the world, with an embankment height of 8m and a length of 7km.
Between 1915 and 1921, the embankment was raised to a maximum height of 12.2m, and the clay core and rock beaching was extended to the new crest level.
Waranga Basin is located between the Goulburn and Campaspe River basins. It is filled by water diverted from the Goulburn River at Goulburn Weir through the Stuart Murray and Cattanach canals. It provides irrigation water for the Central Goulburn, Rochester and Loddon Valley irrigation areas, as well as urban supplies for Goulburn Valley Water, Coliban Water and Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water.
The Basin’s recreation area at Harriman Point was named after an early settler in the area, William Harriman, who arrived in 1884. The point was originally used as a camping spot for drovers and settlers. Harriman Point was developed into a recreational area in the early 20th century, with a picnic ground, boat ramps and a jetty. A new dual-lane boat ramp was installed by Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) at the site in 2022 to improve safety and access for boating, sailing, windsurfing, fishing, jet skiing and kayaking.