What is a Dam
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A dam is built to control and store water. Dams are made from earth, rocks or concrete and are usually constructed on rivers to store the water in a reservoir.
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Thomson Dam, a 166 metre high earthfill and rockfill dam completed in 1983, is Australia's second highest dam and provides water for Melbourne
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How do Dams work?
Dams store water in the reservoir during times of excess flow, so that the water can be released from the reservoir during the times that natural flows are inadequate to meet the need of the water users.
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High Level Outlets in operation at Eildon Dam in north-east Victoria
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Why are Dams important?
Dams are important because they provide water for drinking and bathing, water for industry, water for irrigation, water for power generation, water for fishing and recreation, and for other needs. |
Liddell Power Station Cooling Water Dam in the upper Hunter Valley region of New South Wales
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Australia has almost 500 large dams. During 1962, the Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) prepared, on behalf of the International Commission of Large Dams (ICOLD), a Register of Large Dams in Australia for inclusion in their World Register of Dams. Since this time the Register of Large Dams in Australia has been updated on many occasions with the last updates being conducted in 2001. This register is now available for downloading from this web page along with a glossary of definitions, terms and abbreviations as well as various summary tables.
The Register of Large Dams in Australia contains the following information, if available, on each of the large dams in Australia:
table
| - Name of Dam |
- Size of Reservoir |
- Irrigation Area |
| - Year of Construction |
- Type and Size of Spillway |
- Flood Storage |
| - Location |
- Purpose of the Dam |
- People Moved During Construction |
| - Type of Dam |
- Owner, Designer and Contractor |
- Extra Footnotes |
| - Size of Dam |
- Power Station and Capacity |
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The Register is available for downloading in either Microsoft Excel 97 or Zipped format by selecting the appropriate file below. The Register contains a separate worksheet for each state and territory as well as a summary worksheet that contains all of the large dams in Australia.
Please Note: The Glossary of Definitions, Terms and Abbreviations as well as the Summary Tables are available for downloading in Adobe Acrobat format by selecting the appropriate file below.
Please click the below to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Register of Large Dams in Australia
Glossary of Definitions, terms and Abbreviations
Summary Tables
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