The Maroon Dam is a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and earth-fill 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, aqua ...

with an un-gated spillway across the Burnett Creek that is located in the South East region of

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The main purpose of the dam is for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) 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 bee ...

of the Scenic Rim Regional Council region. The impounded

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

is also called Maroon Dam.

Location and features

The dam is located southwest of Beaudesert. The primary inflow of the reservoir is Burnett Creek, a tributary of

Logan River The Logan River (Yugambeh dialect, Yugambeh: ''Dugulumba'') is a perennial river in the Scenic Rim Region, Scenic Rim, City of Logan, Logan and City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast local government areas of the South East Queensland, South East region ...

. Construction of the dam commenced in 1969 and was completed in 1973. The rock and earthfill dam structure is high and long. The dam wall holds back the reservoir when at full capacity. The dam has a clearance of above full supply level for

flood mitigation Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

purposes. This allows for a full operating level at . From a

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, 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 lies within the Scenic Rim at the foot of the

McPherson Range The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra, Queensland, Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border ...

, the dam creates an unnamed reservoir, with a surface area of . The uncontrolled un-gated spillway has a discharge capacity of , and is situated above the original stream bed. Initially managed by the SunWater, management of the dam was transferred to

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

in July 2008. The reservoir was officially opened on 16 July 1975 by Neville Hewitt, the Queensland Minister for Water Resources. The reservoir contains some areas of standing timber in its upper reaches. It is generally shallow with extensive weedbeds.

Drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

in February 2003 reduced water levels in the dam to 12%. It was at 18% capacity in November 2003.

Recreation

Camping is not permitted on the dam's property. Private accommodation is available near the dam.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

are popular activities for visitors to the waters held back by the dam. There is a single concrete boat ramp and no restrictions on boat numbers. The dam is stocked with

silver perch Silver perch is a common name for several fishes and may refer to: *'' Bairdiella chrysoura'', native to the east coast of the United States *''Bidyanus bidyanus The silver perch (''Bidyanus bidyanus'') is a medium-sized freshwater fish of the ...

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 ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. Additionally spangled perch are present. The Maroon Moogerah Fish Management Association is the local fish stocking group. A stocked impoundment permit is required to

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the dam.

References

External links

* * * {{WaterQueensland , state=autocollapse Reservoirs in Queensland Dams completed in 1973 Logan River Scenic Rim Region Dams in Queensland Embankment dams Rock-filled dams Earth-filled dams Great Dividing Range Beaudesert, Queensland 1973 establishments in Australia

Location and features

Recreation

See also

References

External links