William Hovell Dam
The William Hovell Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a flip bucket chute spillway across the King River, 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 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 high and long. The dam wall holds back the Lake William Hovell, when at full capacity, with a surface area of. The unusual flip bucket controlled spillway has a discharge capacity of. The dam is managed by Goulburn-Murray Water.
Outflow from the dam drives a hydro-electric generator, with an average annual output of, operated by Pacific Hydro.
