Tumut River Dam Proposal

The Sydney Morning Herald

21 October 1938

Burrinjuck Dam. Tumut River Proposal.

The construction of a dam on the Tumut River to augment the supply of water in the Burrinjuck Dam would be considered, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Reid, said in the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

He was replying to a question by Mr. Hankinson (U.C.P., Murrumbidgee), who pointed out that the construction of such a dam might obviate the necessity for restrictions on the use of water from the Burrinjuck Dam in the future.

Mr. Reid said that no blame could be placed on anybody for the restrictions that had been imposed. There had been a particularly dry period and the amount of water in the Burrinjuck Dam today was only one half the amount that was there at the same time last year.

The restrictions, he added, would be so imposed as to cause as little inconvenience as possible. There were permanent assets, horticultural blocks that had to be maintained first, and there were also riparian rights to be considered.

It was true that if a dam were placed on the Tumut River it would be a safeguard in the future against any further restrictions.

The Minister for Works and Local Government, Mr. Spooner, replying to Mr. Elliott (U.C.P., Ashburnham), who asked if the low level of the water at Burrinjuck would affect the high power electricity lines in the central west said that there were stand-by plants at Goulburn and Canberra which would be used if necessary to help the system.