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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Wyangala in flood

I found some photos I had taken of Wyangala Dam in March. They were in my camera and I had forgotten they were there.

Wyangala Dam is a large water storage facility located in the southwest slopes area of New South Wales, Australia. The dam is situated below the junction of the Lachlan River and Abercrombie River. It was the second water storage project to be constructed by the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of N.S.W. The dam is used for irrigation purposes, flood mitigation and town water supply. Situated on “The Great River System” of the Darling Basin, it is the only dam on the Lachlan River system. It feeds the Murrumbidgee River, which in turn feeds the Murray River.

For near fifteen years the dam has been in drought, receding to as little as four and half percent (4.5%) of its capacity - which has a volume (when full) of three times the capacity of Sydney Harbour. When I took these images it was at near 100% capacity and for the first time in over a decade the spillway gates were partially opened.


Water laps over the embankments - the trees in the far distance are actually
part of a causeway.


The causeway becomes an island.

The causeway under water

The floodway below the spill gates.


Down the Lachlan River the water flows - that's actually an island in the middle of the
flood stream as the water flows either side of it .....

.... and flows.



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