The Waranga Dam is a major earthfill embankment

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

with an uncontrolled spillway located approximately north of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the North Central region of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The impounded

off-stream reservoir {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 An off-stream reservoir is a reservoir that is not located on a streambed, and is supplied by a pipeline, aqueduct or an adjacent stream. San Luis Reservoir is the largest off-stream reservoir in the United State ...

is Waranga Basin and forms part of the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victoria. ...

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

system, irrigating an area of . The dam and reservoir are located in

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 37,592. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roch ...

near the

City of Greater Shepparton The City of Greater Shepparton is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 66,007. It includes the city of Sheppa ...

and is located northeast of , southwest of

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton. At the 2 ...

, and near . When full, the reservoir covers an area of . The area now covered by the Waranga Basin includes a swamp that was known as ''Warranga'' (an indigenous word) or Gunn's after William Gunn, one of the early pastoralists who established his squatting run, also called Waranga, in the area surrounding the swamp. William Gunn was a Braehour Gunn who emigrated to Victoria in 1853 from Wick, Scotland. His half-brother was the Honourable Donald Gunn of Manitoba, Canada.

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

was discovered near Waranga Swamp in 1853, making it one of Victoria's oldest goldfields.

Construction

Construction of the earth dam began in 1905 and was completed in 1915 using picks, shovels and horse-drawn scoops. The site of the basin was a former swamp in the then Waranga Shire. Construction of the dam was commissioned by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria for the irrigation of the Western Goulburn Valley. At the time of construction, the Waranga Basin embankment was described as the largest project of its sort in the world with an embankment height of and length of . Between 1915 and 1926, the embankment was raised in stages and a core wall was inserted. By 1921, the embankment was raised to allowing the storage capacity to be increased to , its current capacity. The major road between Tatura and Rushworth crosses the outlet.

Distribution of the water

Waranga Basin stores water flowing downstream from

Lake Eildon The Eildon Dam or Eildon Weir, a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a controlled spillway across the Goulburn River, is located between the regional towns of and within Lake Eildon National Park, in the Alpine region of Victoria, Aus ...

as well as having a catchment area of its own. Waranga Basin supplies water to the Central Goulburn Irrigation Area and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Irrigation Area. However, the Waranga Western Channel takes some of the water to Pyramid Hill and Boort.

Goulburn–Murray Water Goulburn–Murray Water, the trading name of the GoulburnMurray Rural Water Corporation, a statutory authority of the Victorian Government, provides bulk water storage and supply services to people of Northern Country/North Central Victoria an ...

is responsible for regulating the flow of water from the basin. Normally, only about three-quarters of the can be used in irrigation. However, in 2002-03, an additional was supplied through pumping to assist farmers in the Goulburn Irrigation System experiencing severe drought.

References

External links

Goulburn Murray Water page on Waranga Basin

Waranga Basin Pumping
{{WaterVictoria , state=collapsed Reservoirs in Victoria (Australia) Dams in Victoria (Australia) Goulburn River Irrigation in Australia Dams completed in 1915 Embankment dams North Central Victoria

Construction

Distribution of the water

See also

References

External links