Lake Keepit Dam has life sucked out of it by the scorching drought

With a new career and the excitement of moving, the Irwins were looking forward to living near Tamworth’s most famous lake. But two years on, the drought has sucked the life out of the dam which was once at 100 per cent capacity and tourist numbers have fallen dramatically.

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Two years ago Paul and Stephanie Irwin arrived in Tamworth and marvelled at what they saw.

Starting his new role as the state park officer of Tamworth’s famous Lake Keepit Dam, Paul — along with the couple’s two young children Sienna and William — was confronted with a scene straight out of a holiday brochure.

“It was like a paradise really,” Mr Irwin told The Sunday Telegraph, recalling the dam at its zenith, inching to 100 per cent capacity of 420,000 megalitres — about the size of Sydney Harbour.

“The water was lapping the tree line. You had speedboats and sailboats and jet skis and people everywhere,” he said.

“And I had two small children at the time. My daughter was three and my son had just been born so it was really like this little piece of heaven for them as much as us.

“They learned to walk on the bank and learned swim in the lake.”

Lake Keepit was once a favourite with campers and children. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

But the lake, near Tamworth, is down to under one per cent capacity. Will Irwin at the Lake Keepit pontoon. Picture: Paul Mathews

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At the centre of the dam was the beloved pontoon slippery dip which would be anchored in no less than 12 feet of water to allow people to jump from it safely.

Now two years on and in the full grip of the worst drought in NSW history, the pontoon is still used by the dwindling number of holiday-makers to the dam — only the water landing is replaced by scorched earth.

Keepit, one of two main bodies of water in a 400 kilometre radius alongside the nearby Chaffey, has dropped from 99 per cent capacity in 2016 to its current level of .045 per cent.

Lifelong Tamworth resident David Newberry, who grew up water skiing across Keepit and now uses the lake with his own three children, says it’s a sight he hadn’t witnessed in 46 years.

“Not by a long way,” Mr Newberry said.

“It has been a slow process. We started noticing the levels drop slowly but it is still a shock now to come out and see it as it is now. It’s heartbreaking.”

People are still frequenting the dam, some to utilise the park’s bike tracks or the man-made splash park.

“But not in any great numbers,” Mr Irwin said.

Lake Keepit at 100 per cent capacity in 2010. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Locals have described the drought taking over their dam as a “slow process”. Picture: Paul Mathews

Gone, too, are the fishing tourists.

Once teeming with Murray cod, yellowbelly, catfish and carp, the exact state of the dam’s fishing population is somewhat of a mystery, according to Mr Irwin.

“It’s a question no one really wants to know the answer to,” he said.

Irwin insists he hasn’t seen any dead fish floating to the surface, or found any stranded on dry lake beds.

Which suggests there are some fish still inhabiting the dam’s small, tepid pockets of water which grow smaller and hotter every day as temperatures rise.

“They could be living in there … but that will be a different story once the water temperatures heat up and oxygen levels start to go down,” he said.

“But as I say. it’s a question no one really wants to know the answer to.”

Thousands of toys were donated to farming families near Dubbo, who have been affected by the drought.

Meanwhile, a little Christmas joy was brought to a ravaged landscape at Cumnock, near Dubbo, where Buy-A-Bale boss and Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder swapped animal feed for Nerf Guns and Lego.

Thousands of dollars worth of toys were distributed among farming families doing it tough.

Many hadn’t even considered buying gifts for Christmas tbecause hey were so consumed with battling the drought.

“A lot of people said to us ‘Wow it hadn’t even crossed my mind’ It was something that they hadn’t even thought about,” Mr Alder, who has overseen the donation of thousands of hay bales to around 250 farmers.

Four months since it began with a front-page story in The Sunday Telegraph the unprecedented NSW drought relief effort has hit $30 million.

Since then some areas have had rain, and others are still stricken.

“But there are still farmers who need help badly,” he said.