The Stephens Creek Dam is an earth-filled

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

built on a rock foundation with an uncontrolled spillway across the Stephens Creek, located in the

Far West Far West may refer to: Places * Western Canada, or the West ** British Columbia Coast * Western United States, or Far West ** West Coast of the United States * American frontier, or Far West, Old West, or Wild West * Far West (Taixi), a term used ...

region of New South Wales, Australia. The principal purpose of the dam is to

supply Supply or supplies 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 ...

potable Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

water for the town of . 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 Stephens Creek Reservoir.

Location and features

The dam was completed in 1892 by the Broken Hill Water Supply Company to provide a continuing water source for drought-ridden Broken Hill. The reservoir soon became inadequate and a further reservoir, Umberumberka, was built to add to the water supply. Stephens Creek Reservoir remains the primary water source for Broken Hill, a city of around people and is a popular picnic area. The height of the dam wall is , and in length. The earth-filled embankment wall is by volume. The uncontrolled spillway discharges overflow at the rate of . The reservoir has a maximum storage capacity of , over a surface area of , and drawn 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 . The facility is owned and operated by Essential Energy, which, prior to 2004 was Australian Inland Energy and Water.

References

Dams in New South Wales Broken Hill Embankment dams Earth-filled dams Dams completed in 1892 {{FarWestNSW-geo-stub

Location and features

See also

References