The Blowering Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core 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 concrete chute spillway impounding 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 ...

under the same name. It is located on the Tumut River upstream of

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

in the Snowy Mountains region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Purposes for the dam include

flood mitigation In environmental engineering, the flood mitigation involves the management and control of flood water movement, such as redirecting flood run-off through the use of floodwalls and flood gates, rather than trying to prevent floods altogether. It a ...

, hydro-power,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

and conservation. The dam is part of the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that ...

, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by

Snowy Hydro Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme which consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connecte ...

Location and features

Commenced in 1964, completed in 1968, and upgraded in 2010, the Blowering Dam is a major ungated dam, located approximately south of Tumut. The dam was built by consortium including Morrison, Knudsen, Utah and Mcdonald on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation for town water supplies, river flows and domestic requirements, irrigated agriculture, industry, flood mitigation and environmental flows. Together with releases from

Burrinjuck Dam Burrinjuck Dam is a heritage-listed major gated concrete-walled gravity hydro-electric dam at Burrinjuck, Yass Valley Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It has three spillways across the Murrumbidgee River located in the South West Slopes regi ...

, on the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

, Blowering Dam also provides a regulated flow of water for the Coleambally and

Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) is geographically located within the Riverina area of New South Wales. It was created to control and divert the flow of local river and creek systems for the purpose of food production. The main river s ...

s. The dam wall constructed with of rock fill with clay core is high and long. The maximum water depth is and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back of water at AHD. The surface area of the Blowering Reservoir is and the catchment area is . The uncontrolled concrete chute spillway is capable of discharging . A 33 million upgrade of facilities was completed between 2009 and 2012, and involved the construction of a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

wall on top of the dam wall crest and raising the spillway training walls. The addition of the parapet wall increased the crest height to . Storage capacity and water releases from the dam were not altered by the upgrade.

Power generation

The dam houses a hydroelectric

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

and has one

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...

generator, with a generating capacity of of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

; with a net generation of per annum. The power station has rated hydraulic head.

Recreation

In 1978,

Ken Warby Ken Warby (born 9 May 1939) is an Australian motorboat racer, who currently holds the water speed record of , set on Blowering Dam on 8 October 1978. As a child, Warby's hero was Donald Campbell, who died attempting to break the record in 19 ...

set the water speed record of on Blowering Reservoir - a record that still stands.

Gallery

BloweringDamWall.jpg, Blowering Dam wall. SpiritOfAustraliaModelBloweringDam.jpg, Model of Spirit of Australia in which Ken Warby set the world water speed record in 1978 on the dam. Blowering Reservoir from Blowering Dam.JPG, View of Blowering Reservoir from Blowering Dam, 2012.

References

External links

* * *
Blowering Dam
at Ken Warby's website

Hydro Power Stations
at