Googong goes over

The water supply for Canberra (and Queanbeyan) comes from a number of dams, of which by far the biggest is Googong to the South of Queanbeyan.  It is unfortunately the hardest to top up since it isn't really in a mountainous area and much of the surrounding countryside is rural residential with dams on the feeder creeks.  As a result it got down to about 30% capacity in 2008 and despite getting some water from the other dams was still about 40% a year ago.  The following chart from ACTEW shows the change in the last 12 months.
It was the last of the dams to hit 100% which it managed on Saturday,  It is now going over the spillway and there follow some images I took this morning (Monday6 November).


 The dam spills into the Queanbeyan River which has settled down a bit since Friday, but with that lot spilling into it has still got a bit of flow happening.  However the next two images probably explain why the causeway in Morrisett St went under on Friday.

What is still running out is going into the Molonglo and thence to the Murrumbidgee.  So, after a few hundred river miles this lot will end up in Wagga, where they really don't need any more water.  I wish the residents of that town good luck, especially with another 50 - 80mm of rain forecast for later in the week.

I have put some further information about what happened later in the week at this post.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin
Good and bad news, eh?
Hopefully the ACT Powers-That-Be rethink the expensive pipe from Angle Crossing on the Murrumbidgee.
.
They would not need it anyway if they simply mandated garden watering only from domestic roof-top collection of storm water (rain tanks).
.
Simple and much cheaper than large pipes, and uphill pumping. Free tanks to Canberra houses, not required to be "plumbed in". Small pumps only.
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Only requires political courage.
.
Sorry - maybe that's too hard.
Denis
7 December 2010 at 01:15:00 GMT+11
Flabmeister said…
Denis
It would indeed be nice if that pipeline was abandoned. However I have never heard of a construction project in (or in this case servicing) the ACT being abandoned. The employment of building workers is the most sacred policy in the Region.

ACTEW has very considerable influence and would not wish to give up this hard fought project!

The final issue is that with the type of McMansion being built in Canberra there isn't room on the minuscule block for a water tank bigger than a milk bottle! While the residents thus don't have a garden to water the indoor jacuzzis use up an equivalent amount of water!
Martin
7 December 2010 at 06:47:00 GMT+11
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