Primarily an irrigation reservoir it is home to an active yacht club[12] and is a popular freshwater fishing and water skiing destination.[13] Cairn Curran reservoir is one of a chain of reservoirs along the Loddon River which also includes the Newlyn, Hepburns, Tullaroop, and Laanecoorie Reservoirs.
A 2 MW hydroelectric power station generates electricity when irrigation and flood releases are being made.[14][15]
^"WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS: Victorian Schemes in Hand". The Australian Worker. Vol. 55, no. 8. New South Wales, Australia. 20 February 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia., ...Later this year, said Mr. Galvin, the Cairn Curran reservoir, of 120,000 acre feet on the Loddon River, would be begun...
^"RESERVOIR AT CAIRN CURRAN: Construction Ceremony". The Age. No. 28807. Victoria, Australia. 23 August 1947. p. 16. Retrieved 4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia., ...official ceremony,. to be performed by the Minister, for Water Supply(Mr. L. W. Galvin), at Baringhup on Thursday: 4 September...
^Cairn Curran Power Station, ...The Cairn Curran Scheme is a 2 MW irrigation-based power station built in 1960 at the Cairn Curran Reservoir on the Loddon River, near Castlemaine, Victoria..., Hydroelectric Power, AGL