| Blowering Dam | |
| Location Map: | Australia New South Wales |
| Location Map Size: | 280 |
| Location Map Caption: | Location of the Blowering Dam in New South Wales |
| Country: | Australia |
| Location: | Snowy Mountains, New South Wales |
| Status: | O |
| Construction Began: | 1964 |
| Opening: | 1968 |
| Owner: | State Water Corporation |
| Dam Type: | E |
| Dam Crosses: | Tumut River |
| Spillway Count: | 1 |
| Spillway Type: | Concrete chute |
| Res Name: | Blowering Reservoir |
| Plant Operator: | Snowy Hydro |
| Plant Commission: | 1969 |
| Plant Turbines: | 1 |
| Website: | Blowering Dam |
The Blowering Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway impounding a reservoir under the same name. It is located on the Tumut River upstream of Tumut in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Purposes for the dam include flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The dam is part of 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.
Commenced in 1964, completed in 1968, and upgraded in 2010, the Blowering Dam is a major ungated dam, located approximately south of Tumut. The dam was built by consortium including Morrison, Knudsen, Utah and Mcdonald on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation for town water supplies, river flows and domestic requirements, irrigated agriculture, industry, flood mitigation and environmental flows.[1] [2] [3] Together with releases from Burrinjuck Dam, on the Murrumbidgee River, Blowering Dam also provides a regulated flow of water for the Coleambally and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas.
The dam wall constructed with of rock fill with clay core is high and long. The maximum water depth is and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back of water at AHD. The surface area of the Blowering Reservoir is and the catchment area is . The uncontrolled concrete chute spillway is capable of discharging .
A 33 million upgrade of facilities was completed between 2009 and 2012, and involved the construction of a parapet wall on top of the dam wall crest and raising the spillway training walls. The addition of the parapet wall increased the crest height to . Storage capacity and water releases from the dam were not altered by the upgrade.[4] [5]
The dam houses a hydroelectric power station and has one turbine generator, with a generating capacity of of electricity; with a net generation of per annum. The power station has rated hydraulic head.
In 1978, Ken Warby set the water speed record of on Blowering Reservoir[6] - a record that still stands.