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ROCKLANDS RESERVOIR

Location Rocklands Road BALMORAL, Southern Grampians Shire File Number 132 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir dam [2/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir dam [3/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir dam [4/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [5/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [6/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [7/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [8/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir RAAF [9/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [10/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir [11/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservpoir [12/12] 23255 Rocklands Reservoir left

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Rocklands Reservoir and associated channels were constructed by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission between 1941 and 1953. Proposals and attempts had been made to dam the Glenelg River from the earliest times. The Reservoir represents the culmination of lobbying from locals in the late nineteenth century, including the influential squatters: Samuel Carter of Glenisla who built a large irrigation scheme on his own run; Alexander Turnbull of Rocklands; and Charles Officer at Mount Talbot who was MLA for Dundas. The lobbying resumed after the First World War and the opening up of country to Soldier Settlement when finally the Minister for Water Supply visited the proposed site in November 1940. World War Two interrupted construction and the construction camp site became an Air Force recruit training depot. The Reservoir was constructed in two stages, the first being the construction of a diversion weir incorporated in the main weir. The second stage involved the construction of the main weir of 16 371 feet (5 037m) of which 600 feet (185m) formed the spillway and overflow section. The Reservoir opened in 1953 and is the largest water supply in the Wimmera-Mallee water supply system, having a capacity of 348,000 megalitres and is potentially one of the largest in the state. The dam has a large, centrally located concrete spillway, with concrete abutments and rock fill embankments at each end. The outlet is from a tunnel at the north abutment leading to a concrete lined channel. The Reservoir soon assumed its ancillary but important recreational functions: water-skiing, fishing, boating and swimming as well as passive recreation. These are reflected in the landscaping around the dam wall. The water level reached an all-time low because of successive droughts from the late 1990s and for many years has failed to provide the water it once promised.

How is it significant?
The Rocklands Reservoir is of significance to the State of Victoria and the Shire of Southern Grampians for scientific, social and historical.

Why is it significant?
Rocklands Reservoir is of scientific significance for its method of construction and for its control of the natural water supply, being the fifth largest dam in Victoria and the largest in the Wimmera-Mallee. It is of social significance for facilitating community development and its recreational value. It is of historical significance for its association with key figures in irrigation and water supply and for its possibly unsuccessful conclusion to the long term problem of stock and domestic water supply in the Wimmera-Mallee.