The North Pine Dam is a

mass concrete Mass concrete is defined by American Concrete Institute Committee 207 as "any volume of concrete with dimensions large enough to require that measures be taken to cope with the generation of heat from hydration of cement and attendant volume change ...

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

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 earth-fill embankments on abutments with a gated spillway across the

North Pine River The North Pine River is a minor river located in South East Queensland, Australia. Location and features The North Pine River rises in the D'Aguilar Range in the Mount Mee State Forest, approximately northwest of Brisbane, and flows general ...

that is located in the

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for

supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

of potable water for the

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

region and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

's northern suburbs. The impounded

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 ...

is called Lake Samsonvale.

Location and features

The dam is located north-west of Brisbane, within the Moreton Bay region, at Joyner, near the settlements of Whiteside, and Petrie. The North Pine Dam was designed by the Department of Local Government, with the Co-ordinator General's Department supervising construction contracts headed by Transfield. The cost of the dam was 20 million, and the dam was opened on 12 August 1976 by the Lord Mayor of

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

, Alderman Frank Sleeman. The concrete dam structure is high and long. The dam wall holds back the reservoir when at full capacity. From a

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of that includes much of the southeastern slopes of the

D'Aguilar National Park D'Aguilar National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia. It contains the D'Aguilar Range and is located along the northwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area. The park is traversed by the winding scenic Mount Nebo Road and Mount Glo ...

, the dam creates Lake Samsonvale at an elevation of above sea level, with a surface area of . The gated spillway, with five steel gates, has a discharge capacity of . Initially managed by the Brisbane City Council and then SunWater, management of the dam was transferred to

SEQ Water Seqwater is a statutory authority of the Government of Queensland that provides bulk water storage, transport and treatment, water grid management and planning, catchment management and flood mitigation services to the South East Queensland re ...

in July 2008 as part of a

water security Water security is the focused goal of water policy and water management. A society with a high level of water security makes the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water. T ...

project in the South East Queensland region, known as the

South East Queensland Water Grid The SEQ Water Grid is a region-wide, long term, water supply scheme that provides a sustainable water infrastructure network for the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The project was the largest urban response to the drought in Austra ...

. The accompanying water treatment plant is also managed by SEQ Water. Prior to the initial flooding of the valley, many of the surrounding grazing and dairy farms were compulsorily acquired, and the only evidence of these farms is now the names of roads leading to the lake's shoreline, such as Winn Road and Golds Scrub Lane. Golds Scrub Lane now leads only to the Samsonvale Cemetery; prior to the flooding of the dam, the site was also home to a church and a post office. To allow for the dam's flooding, of road had to be relocated and rebuilt. In May 2007, the dam, which was providing approximately per day or 20% of the region's water supply, was taken offline as a safety precaution. The

drought in Australia Drought in Australia is defined by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as rainfall over a three-month period being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a ...

caused water levels to drop to 14% capacity, the lowest since it was built. The cessation of water supply was meant to protect the dam from potential

blue green algae Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue ...

blooms in the coming summer months. The operators continued to release between per day to service the North Pine River.

Flood mitigation

The North Pine Dam was designed with little

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 ...

capacity in mind, being designed only for water storage. As such, during flood seasons the location of the dam spillway causes the flooding and closure of Youngs Crossing Road. Flood conditions last affected the dam catchment in October 2010, and prior to that 1991, 1989 and 2000 & 2009. The dam wall is also one of the few in Queensland to be located upstream of a large urban area, and in the event of overtopping or dam failure,

Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Government. It carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on all aspects of geoscience, and custodian of the geographic and geological data and knowle ...

suggests that the downstream urban population would be flooded within three hours.

Recreational uses

Recreational use of the lake and its surrounding bushland reserve is severely limited, with prohibited recreational activities including swimming, water skiing, diving, mountain biking, horse riding, canoeing and kayaking, camping, and bushwalking. Picnic facilities are available at four locations around the dam, with access prohibited outside of daylight hours.

Fishing

For many years fishing was banned in the dam. Lake Samsonvale has been stocked by Pine Rivers Fish Stocking Association www.prfma.com.au with fresh water fish, including

spangled perch ''Leiopotherapon unicolor'', the spangled grunter or spangled perch is a species of ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to Australia. Description ''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' has a slender, oval shaped body whi ...

, snub-nosed garfish,

golden perch The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, an ...

, silver perch,

eastern freshwater cod The eastern freshwater cod (''Maccullochella ikei''), also known as the eastern cod or Clarence River cod, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the genus ''Maccullochella'' and the family Percichthyidae, that occur in the coastal Clarence Rive ...

, saratoga and

Australian bass The Australian bass (''Macquaria novemaculeata'') is a small- to medium-sized species of primarily freshwater (but estuarine spawning) fish found in coastal rivers and streams along the east coast of Australia. A member of the genus '' Macqua ...

, with varying levels of success. The dam is also home to the noxious species

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

which is a fine eating sportfish in its larger sizes but tends to overpopulate and stunt if uncontrolled, as well as a population of Australian red claw crayfish, usually native only to Northern Queensland. Both the tilapia and red claw species are the target of considerable local effort for their capture and complete removal. Like various other Queensland freshwater fisheries, a stocked impoundment permit is required to fish in North Pine Dam.

Boating

All boating on the lake is prohibited except through two groups. The Lake Samsonvale Water Sports Association and the stocking grou
Pine Rivers Fish Stocking Association
have 300 permits to release each year for non petrol powered craft to members of the public for a small licence fee

References