Atkinson Dam Explained

Atkinson Dam
Location Map:Queensland
Location Map Caption:Location of the Atkinson Dam
in Queensland
Coordinates:-27.4283°N 152.4442°W
Country:Australia
Location:South East Queensland
Purpose:Irrigation
Status:O
Opening:1970
Operator:SEQ Water
Dam Type:E
Dam Height:9m (30feet)
Dam Length:2088m (6,850feet)
Dam Volume:74e3m3
Dam Crosses:Buaraba Creek
Spillway Count:One
Spillway Type:Uncontrolled
Spillway Capacity:439m3/s
Res Name:Lake Atkinson
Res Capacity Total:30500ML[1] [2]
Res Catchment:32.72km2
Res Surface:556ha
Res Elevation:65.7m (215.6feet)
Res Max Depth:9m (30feet)
Res Max Length:4.2km (02.6miles)
Res Max Width:2.5km (01.6miles)

The Atkinson Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam across the Buaraba Creek and a naturally forming lagoon, which is located near Lowood in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation of farming land in the lower Lockyer Valley. The resultant reservoir is called Lake Atkinson.

Location and features

Located in the locality of Atkinsons Dam, northeast of in the Somerset Region local government area of West Moreton region, the dam wall was constructed in 1970 over the natural Atkinsons Lagoon.[3]

The dam wall is high and long and holds back 30500ML of water when at full capacity. The surface area of the reservoir is and the catchment area is .[4] The uncontrolled spillway has a discharge capacity of .[2] [5]

The dam is connected to Seven Mile Lagoon via a 1.2km (00.7miles) channel. Facilities at the dam include two boat ramps, picnic tables and two caravan parks. A maximum of 15 boats are permitted on the lake at any one time. In mid-2006 the dam was empty due to drought conditions in Australia.[6]

Fishing

Fish stocking of silver perch, bass, southern saratoga and golden perch has resulted in an excellent fishery, although the dry periods, high evaporation rates and drawdowns for irrigation in summer, result in low water levels as well as oxygen depleted water which makes fishing much more difficult.[7] Other fish that are present includes eel-tailed catfish and spangled perch.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sunwater Current Water Storage Information . 18 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100528155009/http://www.sunwater.com.au/water_store.htm . 28 May 2010 . dead .
  2. Web site: Atkinson Dam . . Water supply: Dams & weirs . 23 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090525093928/http://seqwater.com.au/index.htm . 25 May 2009 . dmy .
  3. Web site: Atkinsons Dam. Sweetwater Fishing. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191115230517/http://www.sweetwaterfishing.com.au/atkinson.htm. 15 November 2019. 16 November 2019.
  4. Web site: Atkinson Seqwater. 2020-08-24. www.seqwater.com.au.
  5. Web site: Register of Large Dams in Australia. Excel (requires download). Australian National Committee on Large Dams. 2010. 23 June 2014. Dams information. 12 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131212120804/http://www.ancold.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Dams-Australia-2010-v1-for-website.xls. dead.
  6. News: The Courier Mail. Tiny trickle sparks torrent. Williams, Brian. 21 April 2008. 11 June 2006 .
  7. Book: Harrison, Rod . Queensland Dams . James, Ernie. Sully, Chris. Classon, Bill. Eckermann, Joy . 2008 . Australian Fishing Network . . 978-1-86513-134-4 . 62–63 .