Aroona Dam near Leigh Creek in the Flinders Ranges. Late afternoon.
Aroona Dam.
This reservoir in the hills to the west of Leigh Creek was built to provide water for the town and the brown coal mines. The Electricity Trust of South Australia designed and built the dam using around 160 post war immigrant workers. Work began on the reservoir in 1952 and the dam opened in 1957. Mt Aroona is 417 metres high and the rocks of the gorge are quite colourful with their red and purple colours. The reservoir can hold 7.5 gigalitres although the average rainfall of the hills is only about 180 mm a year. The concrete spillway is about 24 metres high and 236 metres long and when full the reservoir is 3.5 kms long. The dam site was selected to create a deep reservoir with as little surface area as possible to reduce solar evaporation of the water during the scorching summer months. Since 2016 water for Leigh Creek has come from an artesian supply that is then treated and filtered providing soft water that Adelaidians only wish for. Aroona Dam and sanctuary is now being considered for recreational use. For comparison Hope valley reservoir near Adelaide holds 2.9 just gigalitres. The landscape here has been denuded by feral goats and several rabbit plaques but it is steep, dramatic and impressively beautiful.
Aroona Dam near Leigh Creek in the Flinders Ranges. Late afternoon.
Aroona Dam.
This reservoir in the hills to the west of Leigh Creek was built to provide water for the town and the brown coal mines. The Electricity Trust of South Australia designed and built the dam using around 160 post war immigrant workers. Work began on the reservoir in 1952 and the dam opened in 1957. Mt Aroona is 417 metres high and the rocks of the gorge are quite colourful with their red and purple colours. The reservoir can hold 7.5 gigalitres although the average rainfall of the hills is only about 180 mm a year. The concrete spillway is about 24 metres high and 236 metres long and when full the reservoir is 3.5 kms long. The dam site was selected to create a deep reservoir with as little surface area as possible to reduce solar evaporation of the water during the scorching summer months. Since 2016 water for Leigh Creek has come from an artesian supply that is then treated and filtered providing soft water that Adelaidians only wish for. Aroona Dam and sanctuary is now being considered for recreational use. For comparison Hope valley reservoir near Adelaide holds 2.9 just gigalitres. The landscape here has been denuded by feral goats and several rabbit plaques but it is steep, dramatic and impressively beautiful.