Mangrove Creek Dam is the primary reservoir for water supply to residents of the New South Wales Central Coast, operated by the Gosford/Wyong Councils' Water Authority, a joint operation of the City of Gosford and Wyong Shire. It is formed by impounding the headwaters of Mangrove Creek, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River.
It was built in 1981 by the NSW State Government's Department of Public Works & Services (now called NSW Office of Public Works & Services) and was managed by them.
It was handed over to the Gosford/Wyong Councils' Water Authority for full management, including staff recruitment, in 1987.
The dam has the following statistics:
The dam, which serves over a quarter of a million residents of the Central Coast, is a popular day trip destination for both locals and tourists for barbecues and picnics, taking about 45 minutes to reach by car from Gosford.
The dam was nearing a critically low point of capacity, as of January 2007, at 13.3.[1] Local government officials are, and have been for a while, taking drastic measures to conserve water and ensure ongoing supply to the region's residents and vital tourism industry. The region currently has level 2 water restrictions in place (http://www.gwcwater.nsw.gov.au/index.php/restrictions) and has been piping water from Newcastle (to the North) for some time. A larger diameter pipeline has just been completed linking the Central Coast to the Hunter water system where there is surplus water available. The Mardi to Mangrove Link Project will pump raw water from Mardi Dam to Mangrove Creek Dam, starting mid 2011 [2]. An array of mobile desalination plants is in the pre-construction stage. Level 4 restrictions were in place until June 2009, and could be resurrected if the Central Coast has the same dire water problems again
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