Glenlyon Dam

Pike Creek Reservoir
Pike Creek Reservoir is located in Queensland
Pike Creek Reservoir
Pike Creek Reservoir
LocationQueensland
Coordinates28°58′11″S 151°27′54″E / 28.9698°S 151.465°E / -28.9698; 151.465
Typereservoir
Primary inflowsPike Creek
Primary outflowsPike Creek
Catchment area1,295 km2 (500 sq mi)
Basin countriesAustralia
Surface area1,800 ha (4,400 acres)
Average depth4.3 m (14 ft)
Water volume254,000 ML (9,000×10^6 cu ft)

Glenlyon Dam, also known as Pike Creek Reservoir, is an earth and rockfill dam in Queensland near the border with New South Wales, roughly between Stanthorpe and Texas to the west.[1] From 1972 to 1976, the dam wall was built on Pike Creek, a tributary of the Dumaresq River, 5 km (3.1 mi) upstream from the confluence of the Mole River and the Severn River branching from the Dumaresq. Its impoundment is known as Lake Glenlyon.[2][3]

The dam has a capacity of 253,000 megalitres,[3] a catchment area of 1,295 square kilometres and covers an area of 1,750 hectares at full supply level.

Glenlyon Dam provides water for irrigation of grain and fodder crops. It is managed by SunWater. Swimming, fishing, boating and water skiing are all permitted, with no restrictions on boating except near the dam wall.[4] Two boat ramps facilitate access for boating. In the upper reaches of feeder creeks, there are large areas of standing timber and submerged logs.[5]

In December 1994, the dam reached a critically low level of 2.2% and the next year it rose to just 12% of capacity during a series of droughts in Australia.[6] The dam reached a peak of 110.78% on January 12, 2011, during the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.[7]

  1. ^ "Glenlyon Dam – dam wall in Southern Downs Regional (entry 43057)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Lake Glenlyon – lake in Southern Downs Regional (entry 14000)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Glenlyon Dam". Sunwater. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Glenlyon Dam ( Pike Creek Reservoir ) - Stanthorpe. Qld". Sweetwater Fishing Australia. Retrieved 13 November 2006.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference qlddams was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Collie, Gordon. Worst drought of century cripples farmers. The Courier Mail. 26 August 1995.
  7. ^ "Glenlyon Dam". Sunwater. Retrieved 29 October 2021.