The Little Para Dam is an rock-filled embankment dam across the Little Para River, in the hills behind and , in north-eastern Adelaide, South Australia. Completed in 1977, the resultant reservoir, the Little Para Reservoir, was established to supply potable water for the city of Adelaide and for flood mitigation.
Overview The dam was built between 1974 and 1977, costing , and commissioned in January 1979. As the Little Para's catchment is insufficient to fill the reservoir, it is mainly used to store water pumped from the River Murray. Periodically water is released from the reservoir into the river, enabling refreshing of ground water.
The rock-filled dam wall is high and long. When full, the reservoir has capacity of and covers , drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of .
Upgrade In June 2008 the reservoir was closed to the public so the dam wall could be strengthened and increased by . Construction of a new fusegate spillway system was also carried out. Millions of litres of water were released from the reservoir until it was at 68 percent to enable the construction to proceed. the reservoir was closed to the public, due to the upgrade.
Recreation Overlooking the reservoir is a public park with tennis courts, playgrounds, public toilets and information about the initial construction of the dam. Although much of the current amenities have fallen into disarray due lack of maintenance and public abuse.
See also
List of reservoirs and dams in South Australia
References