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Commonwealth and
States Agree on Snowy Scheme 15
February 1949 Cootamundra Herald |
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A conference of Commonwealth N.S.W.,
and Victorian Ministers yesterday adopted a revised scheme for the
diversion of the Snowy River to Increase the electric power output and
increase irrigation facilities. The scheme, adopted unanimously, will
provide for the diversion of the Snowy so that it can be used in
connection with the waters of the upper Murrumbidgee, Tumut, and upper
Murray Rivers and certain of their tributaries. Announcing this after the conference,
the Federal Minister for Work s (Mr. Lemmon), who presided, said that in
eight years, It was estimated the water available
for Murrumbidgee irrigation would be double and shortly afterwards a
large amount of power would be provided. The scheme adopted yesterday, is as
follows:- Diversion, into the Tumut Valley of
the Eucumbene, Upper Murrumbidgee and Tooma Rivers; waters so diverted
to the Tumut Valley, with those of the Tumut River, to be used for
electricity generation in that valley, and then pass into the Murrumbidgee
for Irrigation; diversion of water from the Tooma River into the
Tumut Valley to be subject to provision being made for the diversion
of at least an equal quantity of water from the Snowy Valley to the
River Murray and its fullest use
for the development of power. Another part of the scheme provides
for the generation of power by the use of the waters of the
catchment of the River Murray upstream from the Hume Reservoir,
together with such water as shall be brought into the catchment from the
Snowy Valley. A second provision was for the utilisation
of the balance of the Snowy River waters (water available after the
diversions from the Eucumbene to the Tumut and from the Upper Snowy
catchment to the Murray) to be used, in one of two ways, either to be diverted
from near Jindabyne to the Murrumbidgee River near Cooma, or to be
diverted to the River Murray. The construction of the Adaminaby-Tumut
diversion will begin immediately. |