Stephens Creek Dam
Location and features
The dam was completed in 1892 by the Broken Hill Water Supply Company to provide a continuing water source for drought-ridden Broken Hill. The reservoir soon became inadequate and a further reservoir, Umberumberka, was built to add to the water supply. Stephens Creek Reservoir remains the primary water source for Broken Hill, a city of around 20,000 people and is a popular picnic area.
The height of the dam wall is 15 metres (49 ft), and 140 metres (460 ft) in length. The earth-filled embankment wall is 112×10 m (4.0×10 cu ft) by volume. The uncontrolled spillway discharges overflow at the rate of 900 cubic metres per second (32,000 cu ft/s). The reservoir has a maximum storage capacity of 2,000 megalitres (71×10 cu ft), over a surface area of 8.5 square kilometres (3.3 sq mi), and drawn from a catchment area of 510 square kilometres (200 sq mi).
The facility is owned and operated by Essential Energy, which, prior to 2004 was Australian Inland Energy and Water.