Lake Julius

Lake Julius was formed following the construction of Julius Dam in 1976 for irrigation and town water storage. The dam wall is located just below the junction of the Leichhardt River and Paroo Creek some 70 km North East of Mount Isa. With a catchment area of 4845 km2 it has a full supply capacity, at a supply level of 223.54m AHD, of 107500 ML, a surface area of 1255 ha with an average depth of 8.9 m.

The dam is unique in Queensland and is a concrete multiple arch and buttress type structure, with the spillway discharging over the tops of the arches. The spillway crest is 18.3 m above bed level. The arch barrels, founded on a triangular arch base, are constructed in independent arch rings and are hinged at buttress springing lines. The spillway is a precast superstructure and the dissipation slab at ground level is post tensioned to the foundation rock.

The dam has had operational volumes ranging between a low of 59.22%, recorded on 24th November 2014, and a high of 169.73%, recorded on 15th January, 2004. The high being due to record breaking rainfall upstream in the Mt. Isa area.

SunWater is undertaking a dam spillway capacity upgrade program.