TheUpper Yarra Reservoir is located east ofMelbourne,Victoria, Australia, beyondWarburton within the locality ofReefton. Water from Upper Yarra Reservoir supplies towns in the upperYarra Valley, andSilvan Reservoir, which transfers water to most parts of Melbourne.
The management of 157,000 hectares of Melbourne's forested water catchments of the Upper Yarra such as the Watts (Maroondah) werevested in theMelbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) in 1891. In 1928, the Upper Yarra catchment was permanently added for water supply purposes.[2][3]
Approval to construct Upper Yarra Reservoir was granted in the early 1940s but due toWorld War II work did not start until 1948.[4][5][6] When the Upper Yarra Reservoir was completed the total storage capacity of Melbourne's system was tripled to nearly 300,000 megalitres.[1]
Upper Yarra Reservoir has a capacity of 200,000 ML (7.1 billion cu ft) and was completed in 1957,[7] initially for the purpose of preventing flooding downstream.
Upper Yarra Reservoir is also supplied by water transferred from theThomson River Dam.[8]
As of January 2007,severe drought in south-eastern Australia had resulted in low water levels in the reservoir, which on 5 January 2007 was approximately half full. As of 22 July 2013, it contained 95,568 megalitres of water(47.6% full).[9] The recorded water storage level in the dam in 26 September 2021 was 186,060 megalitres, equivalent to being 92.8 per cent full.[10]
^Moulds, F. R. (1991).The Dynamic Forest – A History of Forestry and Forest Industries in Victoria. Lynedoch Publications. Richmond, Australia. p. 232.ISBN0646062654.
^"Our Water Supply".The Age. No. 30, 142. Victoria, Australia. 6 December 1951. p. 2. Retrieved4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.,...They planned to use the Upper Yarra catchment, but, suddenly the demands of War halted their plans...
^"UPPER YARRA RESERVOIR".The Argus. No. 29, 214. Victoria, Australia. 10 April 1940. p. 2. Retrieved4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^"UPPER YARRA DAM PROJECT".The Age. No. 26, 495. Victoria, Australia. 16 March 1940. p. 30. Retrieved4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Board of Works £1½m. 5¼% loan".The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 17 January 1957. p. 10. Retrieved4 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.,... the board would spend £3 million this financial year on the Upper Yarra dam....This would bring theselarge projects near to completion...
^Beverley F Ronalds,'Ronalds, Albert Francis (Bert) (1913–1999)',Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 11 May 2022
