Kidston Dam

Kidston Dam
Location 200km North of Hughenden, Queensland
Coordinates 19°05′00″S 144°07′26″E / 19.0833°S 144.124°E / -19.0833; 144.124Coordinates: 19°05′00″S 144°07′26″E / 19.0833°S 144.124°E / -19.0833; 144.124
Type reservoir
Basin countries Australia

Kidston Dam as so known as Copperfield Dam and was a dam near Hughenden built for the local mine. The Kidston Gold Mine closed July 2001. It has a capacity of 20 400 ML.[1]

History

This storage and associated pipeline was built to provide water to the Kidston Goldmine in the early 1980s on the Copperfield River, a tributary of the Einasleigh River in the Gilbert River catchment. The dam was one of the first dams built in Australia using the Roller Compacted Concrete technique. At the closure of the mine, the storage was handed back to the state and is owned/ managed by DEWS. Downstream properties receive water via a pipeline which was built to supply the mine and associated township. There is also a local arrangement to release water (towards the end of winter) to fill downstream waterholes. This allows riparian properties access to water for stock and domestic use until the coming wet season.

The dam is currently managed by the Queensland Department of Energy and Water Supply (DEWS).

Pumped storage project

A nearby 50 MW solar farm is scheduled, and the Kidston Dam is suggested to supply pumped storage hydroelectricity for matching supply and demand between solar farm and grid.[2] The project was later upgraded to 250 MW solar and 1,500-2,000 MWh pumped storage, at an expected cost of $330 million.[3]

Fishing

The area is popular with recreational fisherman. In recent years the dam has seen an exponential growth in the redclaw population. [4]

Access for fishing boats is via a steep dirt and rock boat ramp next to the dam wall. In 2017, DEWS installed 14 safety warning sign buoys, approximately 100m off the dam wall, to alert waterway users of the danger of overtopping the overflow spillway.

Redclaw

See also

References

  1. ↑ Orr, Ken. "Kidston Dam: An Asset Worth Preserving". North Queensland Register. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "A new energy gold mine: storage from solar and pumped hydro". 22 September 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "Kidston pumped hydro storage capacity to be boosted by 25%". 20 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Orr, Ken. "Kidston Dam: An Asset Worth Preserving". North Queensland Register. Retrieved 23 January 2013.


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