Lake Awoonga

Lake Awoonga was formed on the Boyne River by the dam located 30km from Gladstone, in Central Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 30 minutes drive from Gladstone, via Benaraby.Lake Awoonga is the main water supply for the Gladstone region. Its recreation areas and recreational fishery are provided free to locals and tourists by the Gladstone Area Water Board.SpecificationsBuilt across the Boyne River south west of Gladstone, the Awoonga Dam is a rockfill structure with a concrete upstream face slab. The embankment was formed from rock excavated from a quarry on the side of the dam wall. The embankment is over 650m in length and 54.4m in height, with a volume of approximately 2000000m3 of rock. The spillway’s height is 40m AHD(Australian Height Datum). This design of the current dam allows for further raising, if necessary, through the addition of gates to the top of the spillway. The maximum capacity of the present dam is 777000Ml.When full the lake is 40 m (111 feet) above sea level. Approximately 200,000 fish are released each year including barramundi and some mangrove jack. By early 2006 a total of over 2.9 million fish had been released into Lake Awoonga including 2.4 million barramundii, 470,000 sea mullet and 15,000 mangrove jack. These fish were bred at Gladstone Area Water Board's Fish Hatchery facility. The largest barramundi caught, as at November 2008, weighed in at a 36.5 kg (80.5 lbs). Lake Awoonga is one of the only dams in Australia to have been stocked with mangrove jack.