Wingecarribee Dam

34°32′39″S 150°28′48″E / 34.54417°S 150.48000°E / -34.54417; 150.48000StatusOperationalOpening date1974Dam and spillwaysType of damEmbankment damImpoundsWingecarribee RiverHeight19 m (62 ft)Length1,140 m (3,740 ft)Dam volume573 m³ (20,200 cu ft)Spillways2Spillway capacity520 m³/s (18,000 cu ft/s)ReservoirCreatesWingecarribee ReservoirTotal capacity25,875 ML (913.8×10^⁶ cu ft)Catchment area40 km² (15 sq mi)Surface area625 ha (1,540 acres)Website
Wingecarribee Reservoir at www.sca.nsw.gov.au

Wingecarribee Dam, completed in 1974 as part of the Shoalhaven Scheme, is an earth and rockfill embankment dam structure located on the Wingecarribee River about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of Bowral in New South Wales, Australia. The embankment of 573 cubic metres (20,200 cu ft) is 19 metres (62 ft) high and 1,140 metres (3,740 ft) in length. At 100% capacity, the dam wall holds back approximately 25,875 megalitres (913.8×10^⁶ cu ft) and creates the impounded reservoir of Wingecarribee Reservoir that has a surface area of 625 hectares (1,540 acres), drawn from a catchment area of 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi). The spillway has a discharge capacity of 520 cubic metres per second (18,000 cu ft/s).^[1] Wingecarribee Reservoir lost around 9,000 megalitres (320×10^⁶ cu ft) of storage capacity as a result of the inflow of peat from the Wingecarribee Swamp collapse in August 1998. The original storage capacity was 34,500 megalitres (1,220×10^⁶ cu ft).^[2]

The dam has two outlets, the usual main spillway flowing into the Wingecarribee River which feeds the Warragamba Dam system, and an added extra sluice system known as the Glenquarry Cut which feeds into the Glenquarry Creek and then the Nepean River.

See also

• List of reservoirs and dams in Australia

References