Guthega Dam

Guthega Dam
Guthega dam in winter
Location of the Guthega Dam in
New South Wales
CountryAustralia
LocationSnowy Mountains, New South Wales
Coordinates36°22′50″S 148°22′09″E / 36.38056°S 148.36917°E / -36.38056; 148.36917
StatusOperational
Opening date1955
Owner(s)Snowy Hydro
Dam and spillways
Type of damGravity dam
ImpoundsSnowy River
Height34 metres (112 ft)
Length139 metres (456 ft)
Dam volume44,100 cubic metres (1,560,000 cu ft)
Spillways1
Spillway typeUncontrolled
Spillway capacity1,416 cubic metres per second (50,000 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
CreatesGuthega Pondage
Total capacity1,604 megalitres (56.6×10^6 cu ft)
Catchment area91 square kilometres (35 sq mi)
Surface area19.4 hectares (48 acres)
Power Station
Operator(s)Snowy Hydro
Commission date1955
TypeConventional
Hydraulic head246.9 metres (810 ft)
Turbines2
Installed capacity60 megawatts (80,000 hp)

Guthega Dam is concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Snowy River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the storage of water used in the generation of hydro-power . It is the first to be completed of the sixteen major dams of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.

The impounded reservoir is called Guthega Pondage.