Jounama Dam

Jounama Dam is a major ungated rockfill embankment dam across the Tumut River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.

The impounded reservoir is called the Jounama Pondage.

Location and features
Completed in 1968, Jounama Dam is a major dam, located approximately 2 km north by east of the town of Talbingo. The dam was constructed by Societe Dumez based on engineering plans developed under contract by the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority. Construction of the dam flooded the historic valley and town of Talbingo.

The dam wall comprising 554500 m3 of rock fill is 44 m high and 518 m long. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 43542000 m3 of water. The surface area of Jounama Pondage is 381 ha and the catchment area is 1355 km2. The spillway is capable of discharging 3965 m3/s.

The Snowy Mountains Highway passes adjacent to the reservoir.

Power generation
A 14.4 MW small hydroelectric power station was completed in 2010 and is attached to the diverted flow of the Tumut River below the Jounama Dam wall. It is claimed that the small hydro facility generates enough energy to power 6,800 homes.