| Lake Jindabyne | |
|---|---|
| Jindabyne, as viewed from across the lake | |
| Location | Snowy Mountains, Southern New South Wales |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Snowy River |
| Primary outflows | Snowy River |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Surface area | 30.35 square kilometers |
| Average depth | 15 meters |
| Max. depth | 40 meters |
| Water volume | 689,790 megalitres |
| Islands | 7 named + other smaller islands |
| Settlements | Jindabyne |
Lake Jindabyne is a man-made lake on the Snowy River on the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in Southern New South Wales. The lake was created by the damming of the River as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
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Lake Jindabyne receives the flow from the Snowy River as well as its tributaries, the Thredbo River and Eucumbene River. The Jindabyne pumping station pumps the water from the rivers into the Snowy-Murray tunnel where it flows west through Murray 1 and Murray 2 Power Stations before entering the Swampy Plains River and then the Murray River. The flow of water into Lake Jindabyne is particularly strong during the spring months of October and November. Lake Jindabyne's capacity is 689,790 megalitres.
The idea of the Snowy Mountains Scheme was developed in the 1940s as a way of increasing the flow of inland rivers in order to encourage the development of primary industries based on irrigation. After the Lake was built, the flow of water into the Snowy River was only 1% of the amount that flowed before the river was dammed. This caused concerns about the state of the lower reaches of the Snowy River in Victoria and NSW [1].
A Victorian parliamentary committee recommended in October 1998 that the flow into the Snowy River be increased to 15%. Craig Ingram was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the independent member of East Gippsland with a promise to increase the flow into the Snowy River. After the 1999 election, Ingram was one of a handful of independents who reached an agreement with Steve Bracks, the leader of the Victorian ALP. In 2000, the NSW and Victorian Governments reached a long-term agreement to increase the flow of water into the Snowy to 28%. Work to modify the dam spillway commenced in 1994 and is ongoing as at July 2009.
Lake Jindabyne is a popular sailing and fishing destination. The body of water is one of the largest fresh water resivoirs in New South Wales, and has a resident population of Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout and Rainbow Trout. In 1969 the Eucumbene Sailing Club moved to Lake Jindabyne and formed the Lake Jindabyne Yacht Club as conditions were not as rough on Jindabyne as Eucumbene. The club operates from November until April every year with racing in nineteen different classes of boat.
The town of Jindabyne was on the site proposed for the dam. It was relocated to a nearby site on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s. The settlement of East Jindabyne is located above what is known as Old Jindabyne and you can occasionally see parts of the old town when the levels of the lake are low. The Polish community has built a statue of Paul Strzelecki who first explored the area to celebrate the Bicentennial of white settlement of Australia in 1988.
Lake Jindabyne also has a reputation as one of the best places to catch trout in Australia. It is also a popular venue for waterskiing and sailing during spring, summer and autumn.