Googong Dam, Embankment dam near Queanbeyan, Australia

Googong Dam is an earth and rock-fill embankment dam on the Queanbeyan River, about 5 km south of Queanbeyan. Its main wall stands 66 m high and 417 m long, with an adjacent earth-filled saddle dam 13 m high. The concrete chute spillway can discharge 4,300 cubic metres per second, and the impounded reservoir is called Googong Reservoir.

Googong Dam was enabled by the Canberra Water Supply (Googong Dam) Act 1974 and completed in 1977 by Thiess Bros to designs by the Commonwealth Department of Construction. A green ban by the Builders Labourers Federation briefly halted work until assurances were given that marine life in Lake Burley Griffin would not be harmed. Icon Water now manages the dam.

The reservoir is named Googong after the nearby town, and its shoreline lies within Googong Foreshores, a reserve of the Queanbeyan-Palerang region. The dam was enabled by the Canberra Water Supply (Googong Dam) Act 1974, passed by the Australian Parliament to secure water for Canberra and Queanbeyan. A green ban by the Builders Labourers Federation briefly halted work until assurances were given that marine life in Lake Burley Griffin would not be harmed.

The dam lies about 5 km south of Queanbeyan on the lower Queanbeyan River, reached from the Googong area. Since 2016 a 240-metre floating safety barrier spans the spillway, with a gate for authorised vessels, so check access rules before approaching the water near the chute. The spillway has overflowed more regularly in recent years.

The concrete chute spillway can discharge 4,300 cubic metres per second. Floods in 1978 and the 1980s scoured a hole up to 19 metres deep and 25 metres wide in its unlined upper section, and repairs ran from 2006 to 2010. In 2016 Icon Water added a 240-metre floating safety barrier across the spillway, with a gate for authorised boats.