Lake Julius was formed following the construction of Julius Dam in 1976 for irrigation and town water storage. The dam wall is located just below the junction of the

Leichhardt River The Leichhardt River is a river in north-west Queensland, Australia. Course The source of the river is in the Selwyn Range under Rifle Creek Hill and fed by Rifle Creek approximately south of the mining town Mount Isa. It runs in a generally n ...

and Paroo Creek some North East of

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

. With a catchment area of it has a full supply capacity, at a supply level of 223.54m AHD, of , a surface area of with an average depth of . The dam is unique in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and is a concrete multiple

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

and buttress type structure, with the

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

discharging over the tops of the arches. The spillway crest is above bed level. The arch barrels, founded on a triangular arch base, are constructed in independent arch rings and are hinged at buttress springing lines. The spillway is a precast superstructure and the dissipation slab at ground level is post tensioned to the foundation rock. The dam has had operational volumes ranging between a low of 59.22%, recorded on 24 November 2014, and a high of 169.73%, recorded on 15 January 2004. The high being due to record breaking rainfall upstream in the Mt. Isa area.

SunWater Sunwater is a statutory Queensland Government -owned corporation that supplies bulk water to over irrigation, industry and urban customers and water consultancy services to a range of institutional clients across regional Queensland, Australia ...

is undertaking a dam spillway capacity upgrade program.Spillway Capacity Upgrade Program

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius, Lake North West Queensland Reservoirs in Queensland

See also

References