Oberon Dam or Fish River Dam is a major ungated concrete slab and buttress with earth 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 ...

comprising a concrete ski jump chute spillway and

fuse plug A fuse plug is a collapsible dam installed on spillways in dams to increase the dam's capacity. The principle behind the fuse plug is that the majority of water that overflows a dam's spillway can be safely dammed except in high flood condition ...

across the Fish River upstream of

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

in the

Central Tablelands The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is a geographic area that lies between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Western Slopes and Plains. The Great Dividing Range passes in a north–south direction through the Central Tablelands ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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 dam's purpose includes

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 ...

, industrial, and

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. Th ...

. 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 called Lake Oberon.

Location and features

Commenced in 1943, completed over two stages in 1959, and upgraded in 1996, the Oberon Dam is a major dam on the Fish River (formerly, Fish River Creek), located approximately upstream, south-east of Oberon. The dam was built by the NSW Department of Public Works on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation. The original intent of the works was to supply water to the National Oil Proprietary Ltd's refinery at Glen Davis in the western coal fields, factories at Lithgow, and supporting populations. Water from Oberon Dam feeds the Fish River Water Supply, which is a unique regional water supply scheme and is the only scheme in eastern Australia to transfer western flowing water to areas east of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

. The dam wall is high and the

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

is long, and the embankment a further long. The maximum water depth is and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back of water at AHD. The surface area of Lake Oberon is and the catchment area is . The concrete ski jump chute and fuse plug spillways are capable of discharging . Oberon Dam provides a bulk water supply to

Oberon Shire Oberon Council is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of Oberon Council is Cr. Mark Kellam, an independent politician. Localities Oberon Council includes the towns / villages of Oberon ...

, Lithgow City Council and

Sydney Catchment Authority The Sydney Catchment Authority was a statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales created in 1999 to manage and protect drinking water catchments and catchment infrastructure, and supplies bulk water to its customers, including Sydn ...

as well as to the power stations owned and operated by

EnergyAustralia EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using ...

Recreation

The reservoir is regularly stocked with brown and rainbow trout and can be fished throughout the year from the water's edge. On the reservoir's northern shore toilets and picnic facilities are available.

References

External links

* {{WaterNSW , state=autocollapse Dams in New South Wales Dams completed in 1959 Central Tablelands Embankment dams Oberon Council

Location and features

Recreation

See also

References

External links