The South Para Dam is an earth-filled embankment dam across the South Para River, located near , on the Adelaide Plains, north-east of Adelaide, in South Australia. Completed in 1958, the resultant reservoir, the South Para Reservoir, was established to supply potable water for Adelaide. After the Mount Bold Reservoir, it is the second largest reservoir in South Australia, and it reaches full capacity approximately once in every five years.
Overview The earth-filled dam wall is high and long. When full, the reservoir has capacity of and covers , drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of .
Costing , the reservoir took almost a decade to construct, between 1949 and 1958, due to a demand on resources in the post-war boom. The building of the historic Mannum–Adelaide pipeline from the River Murray to the water-short city of Adelaide was a key delay in South Para's construction; that pipeline today disperses water into the reservoir.
Immediately downstream from the dam wall, water is diverted from a weir to the Barossa Reservoir via an underground tunnel. This water is then treated and supplies Adelaide's northern suburbs including , , and adjacent settlements.
SA Water completed a review of the dam's safety 1998 and it recommended increasing the dam wall by approximately , raising the spillway crest, and additional safety works. The works were estimated to cost 8.22 million; and were due to commence in 2012.
Recreation The reservoir is surrounded by nature reserve and has been a focus for two major revegetation projects, the first in the late 1950s when over 5000 trees and shrubs were planted, and the second as part of the South Australian Government's "Million Trees" initiative.
On 24 June 1979, the mutilated body of 16-year-old male was found after being dumped in the South Para Reservoir. His murder is one of the five cases known as The Family Murders. A pathology report revealed his death was due to blood loss, while toxicology reports showed the presence of alcohol and sedatives.
Gallery
See also
List of reservoirs and dams in South Australia
References
External links