Ross River Dam

The Ross River Dam is a rock and eathfill-filled embankment dam across the Ross River, located in Townsville in northern Queensland, Australia. Built initially for flood control, the impoundment created by the dam serves as one of the major potable water supplies for the region.Location and featuresThe dam was constructed by Leighton Holdings in 1971 for the purposes of flood mitigation and water storage. Following a 2007 upgrade of facilities, the dam has a capacity of and an earth rock embankment 8.67km in length and high. The reservoir has a catchment area of with an controlled gated spillway. The reservoir has a current capacity of 233187ML of water; and can hold up to 803565ML of water in flood mitigation. When the dam gates open, water spills over into the Ross River. Visitors may view the dam from a viewing platform at Ross Park. The Ross Dam Pump Station supplies up to of water to the Douglas Water Treatment Plant, where the water undergoes aeration, sedimentation, rapid sand filtration and chlorination treatment before being pumped to the reservoir where the water is distributed to Townsville.At the base of the dam and on the banks of the Ross River is Ross Park, part of Riverway, with facilities for picnics or barbecues, as well as public toilets at this location.