Aroona Dam is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located in the gazetted locality of Leigh Creek about west of the locality’s town centre. The dam consists of a concrete

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...

of a height of and a width of which holds back a lake of a volume of and which extends for a distance about to the east of the dam wall. The origin of its name is not mentioned in sources. However, the word ‘Aroona’ is listed in the official government place name gazetteer as the name of some geographic features either adjoining the dam or located within its extent. A mountain, Mount Aroona, is located in the ridge on the north side of the dam’s lake. A former water feature is now located “under the waters of the Aroona Dam” is named as the Aroona Waterhole as well as having the

Adnyamathanha The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporary Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia, formed as an aggregate of several distinct peoples. Strictly speaking the ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternativ ...

name of Arrunha Awi. It was designed and built by the

Electricity Trust of South Australia The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999. Precursors Early days (1882–1900) Charles Todd, an ea ...

from 1952 to 1957 by damming the Arrunha Creek (also known as Aroona Creek in one source and as Scott Creek in another source) and using a labour force consisting mainly of immigrants engaged by contract for two-years and which peaked at a maximum of 160 men. Two shifts were scheduled during the winter months while concrete pouring was not conducted between November and March due to “extreme heat.” Its original purpose was to supply the original town of Leigh Creek and the

Leigh Creek Coalfield Telford Cut was an open-cut coal mine, now closed, in the Leigh Creek Coalfield in South Australia. For the 72 years between its opening in 1943 and its closure, the mine supplied sub-bituminous coal to fire power stations first in Adelaide the ...

which was relying on water pumped from Sliding Rock Mine located about south-east of the current town of Leigh Creek. In 2004, it was reported as storing and supplying water to “Leigh Creek, Copley and Lyndhurst, the coalfield and several neighbouring pastoral properties” and this was being augmented in respect to Leigh Creek by water pumped from bores about 6 km south of the town. However, in late 2016, it was advised that “water from Aroona dam will not be used for the town water supply” and that water from the bores would be treated in a

reverse osmosis Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pre ...

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

plant located near the Leigh Creek township and used. In 1995, it and adjoining land covering an area of were declared as a sanctuary under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'' known as the Aroona Sanctuary. In April 2017, in conjunction with initiatives underway for the future re-use of the Leigh Creek township after the closure of the Leigh Creek Coalfield in November 2015, the South Australian government commenced a study to investigate the “potential for shore-based recreational fishing access.”

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''Mountain Spring, The Flinders Range''
produced by the

Commonwealth Film Unit Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under differ ...

in 1956; Aroona Dam featured between 3:15 and 3:43 minutes. {{Reservoirs in South Australia Gravity dams Dams in South Australia Reservoirs in South Australia Dams completed in 1957 1957 establishments in Australia Far North (South Australia) Flinders Ranges

See also

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