Tumut Pond Dam () is a major gated concrete arch

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 ...

across the upper reaches of the

Tumut River The Tumut River (), a perennial stream that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Snowy Mountains and South West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia. Location and features The T ...

in the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...

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. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by

Snowy Hydro Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme that consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected ...

. 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 the Tumut Pond Reservoir, or less formally, the Tumut Pondage.

Location and features

Completed in 1959, Tumut Pond Dam is a major dam, located approximately south-east of

Cabramurra Cabramurra is a town situated at on the western side of the Snowy Mountains (or South West Slopes), along the Great Dividing Range in the state of New South Wales. It is lower than Dinner Plain in Victoria, and lower than Charlotte Pass Vi ...

. The dam was constructed by a consortium comprising Kaiser-Walsh-Perini-Raymond based on engineering plans developed by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

under contract from the

Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme that consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected ...

. The dam wall comprising of concrete is high and long. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back of water. The surface area of Tumut Pond Reservoir is and the catchment area is . The gated spillway is capable of discharging through two 14.3 m (47 ft) wide by 9.1 m (30 ft) high radial gates. The crest of the dam wall forms part of the road between Cabramurra and

Khancoban Khancoban () is a small town in Snowy Valleys Council, New South Wales, Australia. The town is located from the state capital, Sydney and from the state border with Victoria, in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains, near the upper reach ...

. The road is closed to through traffic in winter as it is not routinely cleared of snow and ice.

Power generation

Downstream of the dam wall and located underground is Tumut 1, a conventional hydroelectric

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, that has four

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

generators, with a generating capacity of of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

; and a net generation of per annum. The power station has rated

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a measurement related to liquid pressure (normalized by specific weight) and the liquid elevation above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22, eq.3.2a. It is usually meas ...

. The underground powerhouse is located below ground level.

Tumut Pond Reservoir

Tumut Pond Reservoir or Tumut Pond Pondage (sometimes also Tumut 1 Reservoir/Tumut 1 Pondage) is formed by the Tumut Pond Dam. Snowmelt and other runoff enter the reservoir from the upper Tumut River and the dam impounds the river's natural flow below the Tumut Two Dam wall. Water from the reservoir, after passing over the spillway of the Tumut Pond Dam, flows downstream, above the underground Tumut 1 Power Station, and into the impounded waters of Talbingo Reservoir, formed by the

Talbingo Dam Talbingo Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway across the Tumut River upstream of Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The impounded reservoir is called Tal ...

; past Tumut 3 Power Station, into Jounama Pondage, formed by Jounama Dam; and then into Blowering Reservoir, formed by

Blowering Dam The Blowering Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway impounding a reservoir under the same name. It is located on the Tumut River upstream of Tumut in the Snowy Mountains region of New Sout ...

, passing through Blowering Power Stations. The natural flow of the Tumut River continues into the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

region.

References

External links

* {{Energy in New South Wales , state=autocollapse Dams in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Scheme Dams completed in 1959 Arch dams Dams in the Murray River basin 1959 establishments in Australia

Location and features

Power generation

Tumut Pond Reservoir

See also

References

External links