The dam was constructed by the Queensland Government Co-ordinator-General's Department in 1960. The 790-thousand-cubic-metre (28×10^6 cu ft) earth rock embankment dam wall is 399 metres (1,309 ft) in length and 40 metres (130 ft) high. The reservoir has a catchment area of 163 square kilometres (63 sq mi) with a controlled concrete spillway that releases up to 1,240 cubic metres per second (44,000 cu ft/s). The reservoir has a surface area of 1,550 hectares (3,800 acres) with an average depth of 12.9 metres (42 ft), and has a maximum operating level of 186,750 megalitres (4.108×1010 imp gal; 4.933×1010 US gal) of water.[1]
The dam and power generation facilities are owned and operated by CleanCo Queensland.[2]
Hydroelectric power facilities
Built in 1957 and most recently upgraded in 2008, the undergroundKareeya Hydro Power Station was the first hydroelectric power station constructed on the Tully River. An intake tower is located in the Tully Falls Weir – a regulating pond for the power station – which directs water down a tunnel to the turbines below Tully Falls. Kareeya has a capacity of 86.4 megawatts (115,900 hp) and generates up to 472 gigawatt-hours (1,700 TJ) annually.[3]
The Koombooloomba Hydro Power Station is a dam release point situated on Koombooloomba Dam. The power station was commissioned in 1999 and has one turbo generator with a capacity of 7.3 megawatts (9,800 hp) that generates up to 22.5 gigawatt-hours (81 TJ).[4] Its location on Koombooloomba Dam in the UNESCOWorld Heritage–listed Wet Tropics area finally put into use infrastructure established when the dam was constructed in 1960.[5]
