Talbingo Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway across the Tumut River upstream of Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The impounded reservoir is called Talbingo Reservoir.

History

The structure was completed by Thiess Brothers in 1971, and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 that is now run by Snowy Hydro.

Location and features

Talbingo Dam is a major dam on the Tumut River, within the Snowy Mountains, approximately 5 km south of the village of Talbingo. The dam was constructed by Thiess Bros Pty Limited and, at the time, the project was the largest dam ever built in Australia. The dam is the largest and last of the sixteen dams completed as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The dam wall comprising 14488000 m3 of rockfill with an upstream sloping silty clay core is 162 m high and is 701 m long. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 920000 ML of water at an average depth of 70 m. The surface area of Talbingo Reservoir is 1935.5 ha and the catchment area is 1093 km2. The spillway is capable of discharging 4290 m3/s.

Power generation

Directly downstream of the dam wall is Tumut 3, a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station, that has six turbine generators (3 of which double as the station's water pumps) with a total generating capacity of 1800 MW of electricity; with a net generation of 812 GWh per annum. The power station has 150.9 m rated hydraulic head, which flows into the station from 6 large pressure pipes (one for each turbine) from a concrete inlet structure at the edge of the reservoir, built about midway between the proper Talbingo dam and its spillway. The inlet structure can be mistaken by tourists for being the main dam, due to being a far more conspicuous sight from the road that leads into the Talbingo Dam/Tumut 3 complex. The pumps draw water from Jounama Pondage at the rate of 297 m3/s, returning water to Talbingo Reservoir for later generation use in periods of peak-demand. The power generated at Tumut 3 serves both New South Wales and Victoria. The reservoir is a key part of the Snowy 2.0 Pumped Storage Power Station: it will act as the bottom storage for pumped hydro power station.

Recreation

The reservoir is a popular area for fishing; inclusive of Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Golden Perch, Macquarie Perch, Redfin, and Trout Cod. Power boating is permitted. Camping is permitted in Kosciuszko National Park.