The flooding of the valley in 1929 happened when he was just a boy but he remembers vividly the pain it caused his small community.

Mr Martin, 94, who now lives at The Grange in Wodonga, recorded his memories of the era in two short histories, Bethanga: A town full of memories and A History of Bethanga Park, one of the properties now covered by the lake.

Where most farmers of today realise the great benefits Lake Hume has brought to the North East and much of Victoria and South Australia, Mr Martin is well aware of what was sacrificed.

"The adverse impact the dam has had on this region is probably without parallel in Australia," he wrote.

"Today, 50,000 acres of magnificent river flats lie beneath its waters; over 100 farming families have been forced from the area; possibly as many again dependent on the region for their existence have long gone."

Mr Martin grew up in Bethanga where his family had a dairy farm and he attended the Bethanga State School.

He also remembers fondly learning to swim below what was then the Mitta River Bridge.

"There was a reserve of several acres with magnificent red gums and the area had long been a popular picnic ground," he wrote.

"On August 29, 1929, this area was covered by the early waters of the Hume Dam.

"Bethanga and districts now had their link with the outside world severed."

Given the effect Lake Hume had on Bethanga, Mr Martin struggles to see the benefits.

He does, however, remember the employment that flowed for men from Bethanga during the Great Depression.

"If there was one single positive for Bethanga as a result of the Hume Dam being constructed, it was that some half-dozen men were employed," he wrote.