The William Hovell Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a flip bucket chute spillway across the King River, operated by Pacific Blue and located in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. The purposes of the dam are for irrigation and the generation of hydroelectricity. The impounded reservoir is called Lake William Hovell. The dam and reservoir are named in honour of William Hovell, an explorer.

Location and features

The dam is located south of Whitfield on the edge of the Alpine National Park, fed by the King River and Evans Creek. It supplies water for approximately 24 km2 for irrigated crops, vineyards and grazing properties along the King River from Cheshunt to Wangaratta. Completed in 1973 the rock and earthfill dam structure is 35 m high and 414 m long. The 355 e3m3 dam wall holds back the 13500 ML Lake William Hovell, when at full capacity, with a surface area of 113 ha. The unusual flip bucket controlled spillway has a discharge capacity of 2195 m3/s. The dam is managed by Goulburn-Murray Water. Outflow from the dam drives a 1.6 MW hydro-electric generator, with an average annual output of 3.7 GWh, operated by Pacific Blue.