The Tod Reservoir is located on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

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 ...

, in the localities of Whites Flat and

Koppio Koppio is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Eyre Peninsula about west of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about north of Port Lincoln, and within the Tod Reservoir, Tod River catchment ...

, 27 km north of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. It is situated on the Tod River, the only stream on

providing reliable flows; the reservoir is supplied by concrete channels fed from weirs constructed across the Tod River and its major tributary, Pillaworta Creek. The river was named after Robert Tod, who discovered it during explorations in 1839.Trov
"Tod River Reservoir - A Triumph of Engineering"
''Port Lincoln Times'', Friday 7 February 1930. The Tod River flows into

Louth Bay Louth Bay (formerly Laurence) is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after the bay named by Matthew Flinders on 26 February 1802 which itself is derived from a place in Lincolnshire. At the 2006 census, L ...

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...

. The reservoir is listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

Tod River Reservoir Museum & Picnic Area

A museum which features audio and visual displays is located off White Flat Road, northwest of Poonindie. Grounds include a playground, tennis court, coin-operated barbecues and a picnic area. Grounds are open 7 days. The museum is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4pm.

Construction

Mr C. A. Bayer presented the merits of a dam on the Tod River to the Royal Commission in 1916. An earth embankment dam was built on the Tod River between 1918 and 1922 at a cost of $562,000. In 1921, 600 men were employed on the project. The reservoir overflowed for the first time in August 1932. The water level reached its lowest point in its history in 1949. Low water problems persisted in 1950. In 1951, new pumps were installed at the reservoir.

Fatalities

Seven people died during the dam's construction. In late 1918, three men were killed in a cave-in. Another four died in two separate blasting accidents in 1921. A memorial to all seven men was erected at the picnic area near the embankment in 1982.

Status

The catchment yield for the Tod River is estimated to be 11 gigalitres per annum, though this can reduce significantly during periods of drought. While for some years up to 3,000 ML/year of water was extracted from the reservoir for potable use, negligible water has been extracted since 2001-2002. Reasons for the change include increasing salinity and concerns about the levels of agricultural chemicals in the reservoir. The reservoir has been retained as a ‘contingency' water supply measure since that time. In April 2011, the Department for Water listed three possible options for the future use of the Tod Reservoir. They were: # Catchment rehabilitation to improve the health of the Tod Reservoir and the quality of its inflows # Potential recreational use # Decommissioning and removing the dam wall There is widespread support in the

community for recommissioning the Tod Reservoir using

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 ...

SA Water SA Water is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. History SA Water was established by the proclamation of the ''South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994'' on 1 July 1995. Prior to this its predec ...

investigated this option and concluded it was not viable because of the difficulty in finding an environmentally suitable location for brine waste disposal.

also concluded there was insufficient volume of water available in the reservoir to justify desalination. Alternative views exist, with others suggesting that desalination could be viable with some further engineering and catchment management considerations. In 2013, the reservoir's future has been the topic of Parliamentary debate, including speculation over its future use by iron ore mining company,

Centrex Metals Centrex Metals Limited is an Australian resources exploration and mining company. History Founded in 2001, Centrex Metals was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2006 with the aim of developing several iron ore projects on the Eyre ...

. In September 2014, the ''Port Lincoln Times'' reported that the Tod River Reservoir would be opened to recreational fishing and would be stocked with "recreationally attractive species." The change was expected to occur within the 2014-2015 financial year.

Statistics

Capacity: 11,300 megalitres Length of wall: 351m Height of wall: 25m Type of wall: Earth with clay core Area of water spread: 134 hectares

References