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Yan Yean Reservoir

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Yan Yean Dam
The reservoir with Whittlesea in the foreground
Yan Yean Dam is located in Victoria
Yan Yean Dam
Yan Yean Dam
Location of the dam and reservoir in Victoria
Map
Interactive map of Yan Yean Dam
CountryAustralia
LocationWhittlesea, Victoria
Coordinates37°33′48″S 145°07′29″E / 37.563426°S 145.12476°E / -37.563426; 145.12476
PurposeWater supply
StatusOperational
Construction began20 December 1853 (1853-12-20)
Opening date31 December 1857 (1857-12-31)
Construction costA£750,000 – A£1,017,087
Built byVictorian Water Supply Department
Designed byJames Blackburn
OperatorMelbourne Water
Dam and spillways
Type of damEarth fill dam
Impounds
Height (foundation)10 m (33 ft)
Length963 m (3,159 ft)
Dam volume206×10^3 m3 (7.3×10^6 cu ft)
Spillway typeUncontrolled
Spillway capacity12 m3/s (420 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
CreatesYan Yean Reservoir
Total capacity33,085 ML (26,822 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area23 km2 (8.9 sq mi)
Surface area560 ha (1,400 acres)
Normal elevation180 m (590 ft) AHD
Website
melbounrewater.com.au
[1]

The Yan Yean Reservoir is a reservoir created by the Yan Yean Dam, an embankment dam across the Plenty River and supplemented by off-stream storage, located within the eponymous locality of Yan Yean, near Whittlesea, Victoria, Australia. Completed in 1857 for the supply of potable water, it is the oldest water supply for Melbourne,[2] located 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the south, and, upon completion, was the largest artificial reservoir in the world.[3][4]

The reservoir and dam are managed by Melbourne Water. The name Yan Yean refers to an Aboriginal leader who signed the Batman's Treaty in 1835 with the name "Yan Yan" ("young male").[5]

Dam and reservoir overview

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Photograph, lightly coloured, of the reservoir, 1859

Dam history

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Work on the dam commenced on 20 December 1853 when Governor Charles La Trobe turned the first sod.[4] Construction took place at the height of the gold rush[6] employing a tent city of 1,000 workers returning from the goldfields.[4] The Board of Commissionaires of Sewers and Water Supply was formed that same year in response to the demand for a reliable water supply system.[7]

The dam took four years to construct at a cost of A£750,000.[8][9] Other sources estimated the cost of the project to be A£1,017,087.[10] Most of the pipes were imported from London.[11] It was designed by James Blackburn, an English civil engineer and former London sanitary inspector who was transported to Tasmania as a convict following charges of embezzlement. After being pardoned he came to Melbourne in 1849.[12]

The water was originally supplied by the Plenty River; however, the water quality was poor due to stock crossings and pollution from rural towns.[4] The problem was solved by bypassing the Plenty River and diverting water from Wallaby Creek and Silver Creek, both originating in the Great Dividing Range feeding the Goulburn River. This mountain water was captured in the Toorourrong Reservoir system, constructed in 1883–1885, and supplies water to Yan Yean via an aqueduct to this day.[4] During its construction, the nearby neighbourhood Mernda was created and grew rapidly. Morang became South Yan Yean, and later Mernda.[5]

At the time of its completion in 1857, it was the largest artificial reservoir in the world.[3][4] Photographer Fred Kruger was commissioned by the government to provide images of the extensive works for display at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. By 1857, the city of Melbourne had grown to a population of 100,000.[7] The reservoir was inaugurated in the city in 1857 on New Year's Eve.[11]

Technical description of the dam

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The earth-filled dam wall is 10 metres (33 ft) high and 963 metres (3,159 ft) long. When full, the resultant reservoir has a storage capacity of 33,085 megalitres (26,822 acre⋅ft) and covers 560 hectares (1,400 acres), drawn from a catchment area of 23 square kilometres (8.9 sq mi). The uncontrolled spillway has a discharge capacity of 12 cubic metres per second (420 cu ft/s). Remedial works to the embankment were completed in 2000.[1]

Reservoir

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The reservoir is sited at an elevation of 183 metres (600 ft) AHD, that allows sufficient hydraulic head for the water to be piped throughout the city under gravity.[11]

The region was frequently hit by floods.[13] The reservoir resisted a flood that hit Melbourne in 1923, and became the city's main water emergency resource after the incident.[14] In 1871–72, an arid season led to low water levels in the reservoir and a failure to distribute water throughout the city. During the Second World War, the catchment area was closed for security reasons.[11]

The adjacent Yan Yean Reservoir Park, administered by Parks Victoria, has picnic areas, barbecue facilities, walking tracks and views of the reservoir and surrounding mountains.[15] Wombats, sea eagles, hawks, ducks and deer inhabit the area.[11]

The wetlands are used by birdwatchers. Species sighted include musk duck, Australasian grebe, great crested grebe, white-faced heron, dusky moorhen, Eurasian coot, Latham's snipe, musk lorikeet, eastern rosella, superb fairywren, red wattlebird, grey butcherbird and grey fantail.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Register of Large Dams Australia-2015" (Excel. Requires download. Row 567). ANCOLD. January 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Ritchie, E. G. (October 1934), "Melbourne's Water Supply Undertaking" (PDF), Journal of Institution of Engineers Australia, 6: 379–382, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011
  3. 1 2 Clode, Danielle (11 September 2006). Continent of curiosities: A journey through Australian natural history. Cambridge University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-521-86620-0.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Yan Yean history in poster format" (PDF). Melbourne Water - Yan Yean Reservoir. Melbourne Water. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  6. ↑ Seeger, R. C. (June 1942). "The History of Melbourne's Water Supply: Part 1". Victorian Historical Magazine. 19 (3): 107–119 – via State Library of Victoria. and Seeger, R. C. (December 1942). "The History of Melbourne's Water Supply: Part 1". Victorian Historical Magazine. 19 (4): 133–38 – via State Library of Victoria.
  7. 1 2 "History of our water supply system". Melbourne Water. n.d. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Seeger, R. C. (June 1947). "The History of Melbourne's Water Supply: Part 2". Victorian Historical Magazine. 22 (1): 23–47 – via State Library of Victoria.
  9. ↑ "Yan Yean Reservoir fact sheet". Melbourne Water. n.d. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "The Yan Yean Reservoir". Illustrated Sydney News. 15 April 1865. Retrieved 21 April 2016 – via Trove. National Library of Australia.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "1853-2007 - Flow of History - Yan Yean Reservoir". Onlymelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  12. ↑ Preston, Harley (1966). "Blackburn, James (1803–1854)" (published first in hardcopy). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Brooks, Andrew (2 December 2017). "A brief history of Victorian floods". The Age. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "Flashback: Devastating floods hit Melbourne in 1923". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "Yan Yean Reservoir Park". Parks Victoria. n.d. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "BirdLife Melbourne - Birding Sites - Yan Yean Reservoir Park". birdlifemelbourne.org.au. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

Further reading

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  • Jones, Michael (1992). Nature's Plenty: a history of the City of Whittlesea. Sydney, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1863730761.
  • Dingle, Tony; Doyle, Helen (2003). Yan Yean: A History of Melbourne's Early Water Supply. Monash University.
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Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Yan Yean Reservoir at Wikimedia Commons

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