Glenbawn Dam

Glenbawn Dam is a major ungated earth and rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway plus fuse plugs across the Hunter River upstream of Aberdeen in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-electric power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Glenbawn.

Glenbawn Dam was created through enabling legislation enacted through the passage of the. The Act appropriated A£1,500,000 as the estimated cost of construction of the dam.

Location and features
Commenced in late 1947 and completed in late 1957, the Glenbawn Dam is a major dam on the Hunter River and is the fourth largest earth-filled embankment dam in Australia by volume. The dam is located approximately 14 km east of the town of Scone on the upper reaches of the river. The dam was built by the New South Wales Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission to supply water for irrigation and flood mitigation.

The dam wall height is 100 m and is 1125 m long. The maximum water depth is 85 m and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 749840 ML of water at 276 m AHD. The dam has an additional reserve capacity of 120000 ML to hold floodwaters that reduce flooding downstream. The surface area of Lake Glenbawn is 2614 ha and the catchment area is 1300 km2. The ungated concrete chute spillway is capable of discharging 11115 m3/s. An upgrade of facilities completed in 1987 took the height of the dam wall from 78 m to its current height. Glenbawn Dam is operated in conjunction with Glennies Creek Dam. The two dams supply water requirements along 40 km of the Hunter River from Glenbawn to the tidal reaches near Maitland.

The name Glenbawn originates after a riverside property resumed for part of the storage area.

Power generation
A hydro-electric power station generates up to 5.5 MW of electricity from the flow of the water leaving Glenbawn Dam with an average output of 4.4 GWh per annum. The station was completed in January 1995. The facility is managed by AGL Energy.

Recreation


The dam is a popular location for water skiing and fishing, both by boat and from shore. Located adjacent to the dam and the lake is a nature reserve; Lake Glenbawn State Park.