AS one more day of drought came and went, a milestone was reached on Thursday for a structure designed to alleviate the pain of umpteen days of no rain.
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November 28, 2019, marked a century to the day since the first sod was turned to start the official construction of the Hume Dam.
When Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson undertook that duty he was observed by about 500, including dignitaries from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
As Albury and District Historical Society president Greg Ryan noted the construction of the giant water storage was an epic undertaking and "one of the great engineering works of Australia".
The revolutionary expectations for the dam were on show at the time of the launch.
Its impact was likened to the harnessing of the waters of the Nile in Egypt and it was envisaged that the land it irrigated would be as productive as any in France or Germany.
Sir Ronald, in a dinner speech to mark the occasion at the then Albury Town Hall, voiced his enthusiasm.
"We are met to celebrate the inauguration of one of the great reservoirs upon which the whole Murray scheme for irrigation and navigation largely depends," Sir Ronald said.
"It will ensure the prosperity of a large tract of country, especially in seasons of drought."
Sir Ronald claimed the dam would mitigate Albury's failure to be Australia's capital.
"I would suggest that these great irrigation works are likely to bring greater or more immediate benefits to this town and district than even the prospective establishment in your midst of the Federal Parliament," he said.
A century later and the lake is an integral part of the Murray-Darling Basin system.
But the rise of climate change means the next 100 years for Lake Hume are likely to be much more fraught than the past century as is evident with today's drought and the allocation of water to farmers and the environment.