Prospect reservoir

Prospect Reservoir
at Sunset
Location Prospect, New South Wales
Lake type reservoir
Primary inflows Prospect Creek
Primary outflows Prospect Creek
Basin countries Australia
Surface area 5.25 km² [1]
Average depth 9 m [2]
Max. depth 24 m
Residence time 30-40 days [3]
References [1][2][3]

Prospect Reservoir is a water storage reservoir located at the headwaters of Prospect Creek in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Prospect, in New South Wales, Australia. The dam wall is known as Prospect Dam[4].

Contents

History of the site

Shortly after 1808, William Lawson was appointed aide-de-camp to George Johnston and was granted 500 acres (2.0 km2) at Prospect, which he named Vereran Hall. He built a 40-room mansion there. He died on the property on 16 June 1850 and the property was eventually acquired by the Metropolitan Water Board. The house was demolished in 1926 and most of the property is submerged. [5].

Construction

The dam itself was the first earthfill embankment dam in Australia, being completed in 1888. At the time it was intended to deliver water to the reservoir from the Nepean River.

In May 1940 the reservoir became a part of the Warragamba Emergency Scheme. Pipes were constructed to deliver water 26 kilometres from Warragamba. From Prospect the water traveled by aqueduct into Sydney. In parts this waterway was uncovered[6] and locals actually swam in it.

Continuing use

Since the Prospect Water Filtration Plant was completed in 1996, untreated water is generally not drawn from Prospect reservoir any more. Instead, the water is piped to the filtration plant directly from Warragamba Dam. The reservoir remains a part of Sydney Water's storage network, however it is anticipated that it will only be utilised for water supply purposes on average of five days in any five year period [7]. As the site attracts up to half a million visitors annually, recreational use of the site is carefully managed to ensure the water remains suitable for supplementing Sydney Water's requirements.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b S. Geoffrey Schladow, David P. Hamilton. "Prediction of water quality in lakes and reservoirs". http://edl.engr.ucdavis.edu/Publications/Journals/Hamilton%20and%20Schladow/Hamilton_and_Schladow_Part_2.pdf. Retrieved May 2007. 
  2. ^ a b J.R. Romero et al.. "Application of 1D and 3D Hydrodynamic Models Coupled to an Ecological Model to Two Water Supply Reservoirs". http://193.43.36.27/servlet/BinaryDownloaderServlet?filename=1065774734088_wrds33.pdf. Retrieved May 2007. 
  3. ^ a b David P. Hamilton and Geoffrey Schladow (1995). "Controlling the Indirect Effects of Flow Diversions on Water Quality in an Australian Reservoir". Environment International 21 (5): 583–590. doi:10.1016/0160-4120(95)00061-O. 
  4. ^ "Prospect dam". Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=ujjtBKqbKW. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 
  5. ^ E. W. Dunlop. "Lawson, William (1774 - 1850)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, online edition. Australian National University. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020081b.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 
  6. ^ Canal Reserve
  7. ^ Prof Alistair Gilmour; I Armstrong, J Scandol. "Review of Recreational Access to Prospect Reservoir,". Adaptive Management at the Graduate School of the Environment (Macquarie University, Sydney). Archived from the original on 2006-10-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20061001152908/http://www.gse.mq.edu.au/Research/adaptive/swcprosp.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 

External links