Commenced in 1943, completed over two stages in 1959, and upgraded in 1996, the Oberon Dam is a major dam on the Fish River (formerly, Fish River Creek), located approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) upstream, south-east of Oberon. The dam was built by the NSW Department of Public Works on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation. The original intent of the works was to supply water to the National Oil Proprietary Ltd's refinery at Glen Davis in the western coal fields, factories at Lithgow, and supporting populations.[1][2][3] Water from Oberon Dam feeds the Fish River Water Supply, which is a unique regional water supply scheme and is the only scheme in eastern Australia to transfer western flowing water to areas east of the Great Dividing Range.[1]
The dam wall is 35 metres (115 ft) high and the buttress is 232 metres (761 ft) long, and the embankment a further 167 metres (548 ft) long. The maximum water depth is 30 metres (98 ft) and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 45,420 megalitres (1,604×10^6 cu ft) of water at 1,068 metres (3,504 ft) AHD. The surface area of Lake Oberon is 410 hectares (1,000 acres) and the catchment area is 140 square kilometres (54 sq mi). The concrete ski jump chute and fuse plug spillways are capable of discharging 280 cubic metres per second (9,900 cu ft/s).[1][2][3]
The reservoir is regularly stocked with brown and rainbow trout and can be fished throughout the year from the water's edge.[1] On the reservoir's northern shore toilets and picnic facilities are available.
^ abcde"Oberon Dam"(PDF brochure). State Water Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
^ ab"Register of Large Dams in Australia". Dams information. The Australian National Committee on Large Dams Incorporated. 2010. Archived from the original(Excel (requires download)) on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
^ ab"Oberon Dam". Water delivery: dams. State Water Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2013.