The Upper Yarra Reservoir is a reservoir formed by the Upper Yarra Dam, an earth-filled embankment dam across the Yarra River, located at Reefton, near Warburton, east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Completed in 1957 for the supply of potable water for Greater Metropolitan Melbourne, water from the reservoir also supplies towns in the upper Yarra Valley, and feeds into Silvan Reservoir.
The reservoir and dam are operated by Melbourne Water.
Dam and reservoir overview Dam The earth-filled dam wall is high and long. When full, the resultant reservoir has a storage capacity of and covers , drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled spillway has a discharge capacity of . The dam was completed in 1957, initially for the purpose of preventing flooding downstream.
Reservoir The management of of Melbourne's forested water catchments of the Upper Yarra, such as the Watts (Maroondah), were vested in the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) in 1891. In 1928, the Upper Yarra catchment was permanently added for water supply purposes. Approval to construct the dam was granted in the early 1940s, however, due to World War II, work did not start until 1948. John L. Savage, an American engineer, consulted on the construction of the dam, under the direction and supervision of Albert Francis Ronalds, the chief engineer of the Board of Works.
When the Upper Yarra Reservoir was completed the total storage capacity of Melbourne's system was tripled to nearly . The Upper Yarra Reservoir is also supplied by water transferred from the Thomson River Dam.
During the 2000s, severe drought in south-eastern Australia resulted in low water levels in the reservoir, which on 5 January 2007 was approximately half full. As of 22 July 2013, the reservoir was approximately 47 per cent of capacity. By late September 2021, the reservoir was approximately 93 per cent of capacity.
Located adjacent to the reservoir is the Upper Yarra Reservoir Park, managed by Parks Victoria, where camping and hiking are permitted.
See also
List of reservoirs and dams in Victoria
References
Further reading
External links