1.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
2.
New England (New South Wales)
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The region has been occupied by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years, notably in the west by the Kamilaroi people. In the highlands, the languages, which are now extinct, were Anaiwan to the south of Guyra. In 1827 Allan Cunningham travelled north along the edge of the Range until he reached the Darling Downs in Queensland. In 1831 Thomas Mitchell reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth and explored to the Namoi River then followed it to Narrabri, moving on, Mitchell found a deep, broad river which was the Gwydir. In 1832, Mitchell cut across the plains to the Gwydir River near Moree, the team then spent several weeks charting the tributaries between the Gwydir and the Barwon Rivers. Hamilton Collins Sempill was the first settler in the New England area when he took up the Wolka run in 1832, when the area was opened up for settlement in the 1830s, this led to the gazetting of nine pastoral districts. These districts had a police force and a Commissioner of Crown Lands. Australian red cedar cutters moved into the headwaters of the Macleay River in the early 1830s to harvest the valuable trees, the ranges between Kempsey and Glen Innes yielded about 300,000 board feet in 1950. Work commenced in 1838 with the use of convicts to build a road, then known as Majors Line and this road was later named the Oxley Highway. In 1840 there were 66 separate pastoral licences, in 1842 it rose to 98,1845 –116, only 10 new runs were registered between 1848 and 1855. In 1843 the Darling Downs district was separated from the New England and this region ceased to be a statistical division after 1874, but the counties of Arrawatta, Clarke, Clive, Gough, Hardinge, Hawes, Sandon and Vernon approximated the region’s limits. In 1847 these counties, with the exception of Hawes and Vernon formed part of the Unsettled District of the colony, by 1850 all major communication routes had been forged, with little government assistance. During the 1860s the famous bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt, robbed properties, mail coaches, Thunderbolt was shot dead in May 1870 by Constable Walker at Kentucky Creek, near Uralla. The population of the New England Region, including the slopes in 1957 was 143,788 and in 1971 there were 164,128 people, gold was discovered in 1851 at Rocky River, approximately two kilometres west of Uralla and started a rush to the area. Then gold was found at Hanging Rock and nearby Swamp Creek in 1852, in the early 1850s some alluvial gold was found at Mulla Creek and Rywung on Swamp Oak Creek. In 1852 the first licenses to prospect were taken out, the first gold mining was recorded at Tia in 1866 and in 1873 a reef was discovered at McLeod’s Creek, near Walcha. The discovery of the Torrington Tin Lode was made in 1881, Tin and arsenic were mined from the 1880s at the Ottery Mine, near Emmaville. Copper was discovered at Gulf Creek, near Barraba, in 1889, at its peak, in 1901, the copper mine was one of the largest in the state
3.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Hydroelectricity
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Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015 hydropower generated 16. 6% of the total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 33 percent of global hydropower in 2013, China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 920 TWh of production in 2013, representing 16.9 percent of domestic electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a source of renewable electricity. The hydro station consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants, the average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U. S. cents per kilowatt-hour. With a dam and reservoir it is also a source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, by the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics. The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well, in 1878 the worlds first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William George Armstrong. It was used to power an arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No.1 near Niagara Falls in the U. S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating September 30,1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin, by 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U. S. and Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U. S. alone, at the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble, France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million visitors, by 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land, as the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to include flood control, irrigation and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century, Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its power and plenty. Hoover Dams initial 1,345 MW power station was the worlds largest hydroelectric station in 1936
6.
Irrigation
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Irrigation is the method in which a controlled amount of water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of crops, maintenance of landscapes. Additionally, irrigation also has a few uses in crop production. In contrast, agriculture that only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dry land farming. Irrigation systems are used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area, Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5,000 years and is the product of many cultures. Historically, it was the basis for economies and societies across the globe, archaeological investigation has found evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops for rainfed agriculture. Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the flooding of the Nile to inundate land plots which had surrounded by dykes. The flood water was held until the sediment had settled before the surplus was returned to the watercourse. The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a device called a sakia. Irrigation began in Nubia some time between the third and second millennium BCE and it largely depended upon the flood waters that would flow through the Nile River and other rivers in what is now the Sudan. In sub-Saharan Africa irrigation reached the Niger River region cultures and civilizations by the first or second millennium BCE and was based on wet season flooding, terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India, and China. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World, traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal. Large scale agriculture was practiced and a network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation. Ancient Persia as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop. The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia in about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today and they are now found in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The system comprises a network of wells and gently sloping tunnels driven into the sides of cliffs. The noria, a wheel with clay pots around the rim powered by the flow of the stream, was first brought into use at about this time
7.
Water supply
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Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. However, about 14% did not have access to a water source and had to use unprotected wells or springs, canals. A clean water supply - in particular water that is not polluted with fecal matter from lack of sanitation - is the single most important determinant of public health. Destruction of water supply and/or sanitation infrastructure after major catastrophes poses the threat of severe epidemics of waterborne diseases. Water supply systems get water from a variety of locations after appropriate treatment, including groundwater, surface water, the water treatment steps include, in most cases, purification, disinfection through chlorination and sometimes fluoridation. Treated water then flows by gravity or is pumped to reservoirs. In the U. S, the single family home uses about 69.3 gallons of water per day. This includes toilet use, washing machine use, showers, baths, tap use, many of the 3.5 billion people having access to piped water receive a poor or very poor quality of service, especially in developing countries where about 80% of the world population lives. Water supply service quality has many dimensions, continuity, water quality, pressure, and it is estimated that about half of the population of developing countries receives water on an intermittent basis. Drinking water quality has a micro-biological and a physico-chemical dimension, there are thousands of parameters of water quality. For more details, please see the entries on water quality, water treatment. Water pressures vary in different locations of a distribution system, Water mains below the street may operate at higher pressures, with a pressure reducer located at each point where the water enters a building or a house. In poorly managed systems, water pressure can be so low as to only in a trickle of water or so high that it leads to damage to plumbing fixtures. Typical UK pressures are 4–5 bar for an urban supply, however, some people can get over eight bars or below one bar. A single iron main pipe may cross a valley, it will have the same nominal pressure. So people at the bottom of a 100-foot hill will get about 3 bars more than those at the top, the effective pressure also varies because of the pressure loss due to supply resistance even for the same static pressure. An urban consumer may have 5 metres of 15 mm pipe running from the main, so the kitchen tap flow will be fairly unrestricted. A rural consumer may have a kilometre of rusted and limed 22 mm iron pipe, for this reason, the UK domestic water system has traditionally employed a cistern feed system, where the incoming supply is connected to the kitchen sink and also a header/storage tank in the attic
8.
Dam
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A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity, a dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The word dam can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, the first known appearance of dam occurs in 1165. However, there is one village, Obdam, that is mentioned in 1120. The word seems to be related to the Greek word taphos, so the word should be understood as dike from dug out earth. The names of more than 40 places from the Middle Dutch era such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the level, for Mesopotamias weather affected the Tigris. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan,100 kilometres northeast of the capital Amman and this gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high and 1 m-wide stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide earth rampart. The structure is dated to 3000 BC, the Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km south of Cairo, was 102 m long at its base and 87 m wide. The structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a dam for flood control. During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat III, two dams called Ha-Uar running east-west were built to retain water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called Mer-wer or Lake Moeris covered 1,700 km2 and is today as Berkat Qaroun. One of the wonders of the ancient world was the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen. Repairs were carried out during various periods, most important around 750 BC and these extensive works were not actually finalized until 325 AD and allowed the irrigation of 25,000 acres. By the mid-late 3rd century BC, an intricate water-management system within Dholavira in modern-day India was built, the system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it. Eflatun Pınar is a Hittite dam and spring temple near Konya and it is thought to be from the time of the Hittite empire between the 15th and 13th century BC
9.
Embankment dam
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An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and it has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense, impervious core. This makes such a dam impervious to surface or seepage erosion, such a dam is composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles binds the particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance, embankment dams come in two types, the earth-filled dam made of compacted earth, and the rock-filled dam. A cross-section of an embankment dam shows a shape like a bank, most have a central section or core composed of an impermeable material to stop water from seeping through the dam. The core can be of clay, concrete, or asphalt concrete and this dam type is a good choice for sites with wide valleys. They can be built on rock or softer soils. For a rock-fill dam, rock-fill is blasted using explosives to break the rock, additionally, the rock pieces may need to be crushed into smaller grades to get the right range of size for use in an embankment dam. The building of a dam and the filling of the reservoir behind it places a new weight on the floor, the stress of the water increases linearly with its depth. Thus the stress level of the dam must be calculated in advance of building to ensure that its break level threshold is not exceeded, overtopping or overflow of an embankment dam beyond its spillway capacity will cause its eventual failure. The erosion of the material by overtopping runoff will remove masses of material whose weight holds the dam in place. Even a small sustained overtopping flow can remove thousands of tons of soil from the mass of the dam within hours. As the mass of the dam erodes, the force exerted by the reservoir begins to move the entire structure, therefore, safety requirements for the spillway are high, and require it to be capable of containing a maximum flood stage. It is common for its specifications to be such that it can contain a five hundred year flood. Recently a number of embankment dam overtopping protection systems have been developed
10.
Gwydir River
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The flow of the river is impounded by Copeton Dam, with storage used for town water supply, stock, domestic use and irrigation. The Gwydir River below Copeton Dam provides some of the wildest whitewater rafting available in Australia, before the construction of Copeton Dam and much diversionary work, the Gwydir River flowed into the Gingham and Lower Gwydir Wetlands. The Gwydir Highway was named after the river, the upper Gwydir River also passes the towns of Bundarra, Bingara, Gravesend, and Pallamallawa. Further tributaries above Moree are the Carole/GilGil Creeks to the north flow into the Barwon River when during times of high rainfall/runoff. The Gwydir River further splits into two anabranches west of Moree - the Lower Gwydir or Big Leather Watercourse is the channel. The Gingham Channel flows west, joining the Ballone Creek before it flows into the Big Leather Watercourse, the Big Leather Watercourse then joins the Mehi River to the south. In turn, the Mehi River joins the Barwon River near the town of Collarenebri, the traditional custodians of the land surrounding the Gwydir River were the Aboriginal Kamilaroi peoples. Explorer Allan Cunningham crossed the river at Gravesend in 1827 and named it after his patron, Peter Burrell, Baron Gwydyr, the Commonwealth Electoral Division of Gwydir, which was created in 1901 and ceased to exist at the 2007 federal election, was named for the Gwydir River. In Australia the name is pronounced to rhyme with wider, whereas the Welsh name is pronounced roughly Gwidd-eer, the iron lattice bridges crossing the Gwydir River at Bundarra and Bingara are regarded as significant bridges of the colonial period. Around mid-1838 a war of extirpation, according to local magistrate Edmund Denny Day, was waged all along the Gwydir River, aborigines in the district were repeatedly pursued by parties of mounted and armed stockmen and Day claimed that great numbers of them had been killed at various spots. A lot of irrigated cotton is grown near Moree, as well as other crops, livestock. The cotton industry relies on irrigation and has affected by recent drought with water allocations to farms severely reduced. In 2006 it was calculated that the cotton industry consumed 87% of the water taken from the Gwydir River. Irrigation in the upper Gwydir led to a reduction in environmental flows downstream. The reduction in flow has affected landholders who traditionally used waters from the river to supplement stock drinking water and for minor watering of pasture. It also stopped periodical flushes of water into ephemeral creeks, watercourses and these conflicts resulted in the establishment of the Gwydir Regulated River Management Committee in 1997 and a management plan which came into effect on 1 July 2004. Some 800 hectares of the privately owned Gwydir Wetlands were designated on 14 June 1999 as a Ramsar site as a wetland of international importance. At times more than half a million nesting waterbirds have been present, including over 1% of the populations of nankeen night herons, intermediate egrets
11.
Spillway
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A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels, spillways ensure that the water does not overflow and damage or destroy the dam. Floodgates and fuse plugs may be designed into spillways to regulate water flow, other uses of the term spillway include bypasses of dams or outlets of channels used during high water, and outlet channels carved through natural dams such as moraines. Water normally flows over a spillway only during flood periods – when the reservoir cannot hold the excess of water entering the reservoir over the amount used. In contrast, a tower is a structure used to release water on a regular basis for water supply, hydroelectricity generation. A spillway is located at the top of the reservoir pool, dams may also have bottom outlets with valves or gates which may be operated to release flood flow, and a few dams lack overflow spillways and rely entirely on bottom outlets. There are two types of spillways, controlled and uncontrolled. A controlled spillway has mechanical structures or gates to regulate the rate of flow and this design allows nearly the full height of the dam to be used for water storage year-round, and flood waters can be released as required by opening one or more gates. An uncontrolled spillway, in contrast, does not have gates, the rate of discharge is controlled only by the depth of water above the reservoirs spillway. Storage volume in the reservoir above the spillway crest can only be used for the storage of floodwater. In an intermediate type, normal level regulation of the reservoir is controlled by the mechanical gates, if inflow to the reservoir exceeds the gates capacity, an artificial channel called either an auxiliary or emergency spillway that is blocked by a fuse plug dike will operate. The fuse plug is designed to over-top and wash out in case of a large flood, the fuse plug concept is used where it would be very costly to build a spillway with capacity for the probable maximum flood. A chute spillway is a common and basic design which transfers water from behind the dam down a smooth decline into the river below. These are usually designed following an ogee curve, most often, they are lined on the bottom and sides with concrete to protect the dam and topography. They may have a device and some are thinner and multiply lined if space. In addition, they are not always intended to dissipate energy like stepped spillways, chute spillways can be ingrained with a baffle of concrete blocks but usually have a flip lip and/or dissipator basin which creates a hydraulic jump, protecting the toe of the dam from erosion. Stepped channels and spillways have been used for over 3,000 years, the steps produce considerable energy dissipation along the chute and reduce the size of the required downstream energy dissipation basin. Research is still active on the topic, with developments on embankment dam overflow protection systems, converging spillways
12.
Drainage basin
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A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
13.
AGL Energy
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AGL Energy, a publicly–listed Australian company, provides energy products and services to the Australian economy. The company is involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity for residential and commercial use, AGL Energy generates electricity from power stations that use thermal power, natural gas, wind power, hydroelectricity, and coal seam gas sources. It has large investments in the supply of gas and electricity, the Australian Gas Light Company was formed in Sydney in 1837, and supplied town gas for the first public lighting of a street lamp in Sydney in 1841. AGL was the company to list on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company gradually diversified into electricity and into a number of different locations, on 6 October 2006, The Australian Gas Light Company and Alinta Limited shareholders approved the merger of AGL’s infrastructure assets with Alinta and the subsequent separation of AGL Energy. In 2014, AGL Energy launched plans to offer compressed natural gas to Australian transport businesses as an alternative to foreign crude, AGL plans to launch public refuelling stations across Australia that will help improve supply of CNG to the Australian market. AGL operate retail and merchant energy businesses, power generation assets, the following tables listing significant assets are based on AGLs 2014 Annual Report. In 2015 the EPA ordered the suspension of AGLs Gloucester operations after finding toxic chemicals had been introduced into Hunter Waters systems, the EPA subsequently found no evidence of harm to the environment or pollution of waters and AGL was allowed to continue its Gloucester operations. ^1 Estimated reserves based on Mining SEPP changes, ^2 Under a 50-year project agreement that commenced in 2000, AGL has no effective exploration rights within exploration tenement ATP1103 as these were assigned to Arrow Energy Limited. However, AGL is entitled to participate up to a 50% interest in any development by contributing its share of past costs. ^3 2P or proved plus probable reserves, are those quantities of gas that are estimated with equal certainty to be greater than or less than actual commercially recoverable quantities, 2C resources are considered not yet commercially recoverable. Consistent with new ASX Listing Rules reporting requirements, gas reserves are now reported net of lease fuel i. e. net of estimated own use fuel consumption upstream of the point of sale, better Place Renewable energy commercialization in Australia AGL website. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008
14.
Bingara, New South Wales
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Bingara is a small town on the Gwydir River in Murchison County in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. In 2011, Bingara had a population of 1,093 people, and is currently the administrative centre for the Gwydir Shire that was created in 2003. It has a homogeneous population as residents are mostly of Anglo-Celtic background. Only 9. 4% of the population is born overseas and 3. 3% is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. It is a site for retirement and hence has an old population, with 53. 8% aged 55 years and over. Bingaras socioeconomic status is lower than that of Australia. Bingara is one of the few places in Australia where diamonds have been found, the Gwydir River being a main highlight of the town is a main catchment of the Murray-Darling System. Bingara is located 141 km north of Tamworth,54 km west of Inverell,449 km north of Sydney and 358 km south west of Brisbane, Bingara is located very close to Myall Creek, the site of the massacre of 27 to 30 Indigenous Australians. In 1827 Allan Cunningham crossed the Gwydir River near Bingara, at the time he mistook the river to be the Peel River, but realised his mistake on his return journey. The discovery of gold in 1852 brought prospectors to the area, in the 1880s, copper and diamonds were discovered also, causing a rapid development of the town. Bingara is one of the few places in Australia where diamonds have been found, in fact, Bingara was the largest producer of diamonds in Australia at that time. Bingara changed the spelling of its name from Bingera to Bingara in 1890, the first Bingera Post Office opened on 1 January 1853 and was renamed Upper Bingera in 1862 and closed in 1868. The second Bingera office opened in 1862 and was renamed Bingara in 1890, Bingara sporting life consists of the Bingara Bullets, Gwydir River Rats and the Bingara District Cricket Association with the representative team being Gwydir First XI. Notable sporting people include Andrew Hart, sports broadcaster David Fordham, Bingara has a climate of spring in September and October and autumn in April and May. During the winter months of June to August the days are sunny while the nights are cold, summer days during November to January are dry and hot with low humidity. Athol Butler Andrew Cowper Media related to Bingara, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons www. bingara. com. au
15.
Barwon River (New South Wales)
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Barwon River, a perennial river that is part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the north-west slopes and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. The history, culture and livelihoods of the local Aboriginal people are closely intertwined with the Barwon River and its associated tributaries, the river is formed through the confluence of the Macintyre River and Weir River, north of Mungindi, in the Southern Downs region of Queensland. The Barwon River generally flows south and west, joined by 36 tributaries, including major inflows from the Boomi, Moonie, Gwydir, Mehi, Namoi, Macquarie, Bokhara, during major flooding, overflow from the Narran Lakes and the Narran River also flows into the Barwon. The confluence of the Barwon and Culgoa rivers, between Brewarrina and Bourke, marks the start of the Darling River, towns on the Barwon River, from its source towards its mouth include Mungindi, Collarenebri, Walgett, and Brewarrina. Aboriginal people from six language groups occupied the area of the Barwon River wetlands. These were the Ngemba, the Baranbinja, the Murrawari, the Ualayai, the Weilwan, the Aboriginal people generally used the wetlands for hunting, fishing, and gathering uses, and for cultural association. Aboriginal people built a series of fish traps on the Barwon River at Brewarrina. These traps are a large, well-preserved example of type of prehistoric site. The traps were built of rocks placed in the bed to form a large number of V-shaped or diamond-shaped channels. The Brewarrina fish traps have now been listed on the Australian National Heritage List owing to the rarity of these works and they are of importance to modern Aboriginal people and are still in use. There are rocky rapids above and below Collarenebri as well as weirs, in 1846 Roderick Mitchell, Commissioner of Crown Lands and the son of explorer, Sir Thomas Mitchell, proved that the Barwon and MacIntyre Rivers were the same river under different names. Regular steamer services ran from Walgett to Bourke during 1880 to 1912, during the floods of 1879 and 1886 the steamers were able to travel into Collarenebri and even as far as Mungindi in 1890. The Brewarrina Lift Bridge which was built in 1888 over Barwon River on the Kamilaroi Highway has also assessed as being of State significance. The Boonanga bridge completed in 1928 to cross the Barwon River near Boomi, is an example of Allan timber truss road bridges. This bridge has been recorded with the NSW State agency heritage register, List of rivers of New South Wales Mungindi Bridge Macquarie-Bogan River catchment. Barwon, Darling and Far Western catchments
16.
Inverell
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Inverell is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire, Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the Northern Tablelands. In the 2011 census, the population of Inverell was 9,347, in 1848, Alexander Campbell held the 50, 000-acre Inverell Station on the Macintyre River. The name derives from the name of Mr. MacIntyres estate, the word is of Gaelic origin, and signifies meeting place of the swans, from Inver, a meeting place, and Ell, a swan. The MacIntyre River and Swanbrook Creek join here, the area was also known as Green Swamp in the 1850s. Wheat growers, Colin and Rosanna Ross established a store there in 1853, in 1858 this was done and in the following years the plan was approved and the first land sale was held. Byron Post Office was replaced by the Inverell Post Office on 15 September 1859, the municipality was proclaimed in March 1872. The last section of the Inverell branchline, from Delungra to Inverell, was opened on 10 March 1902, the last train ran to Inverell on 22 June 1987, and the Delungra to Inverell section of the line was closed on 2 December 1987. In 1871, the population of Inverell was 509, this increased to 1,212 in 1881, after Federation, the population of Inverell was 1,230 in 1911, and grew to 6,530 and 8,209. Diamonds were discovered at Copes Creek in 1875 and were mined at Copeton from 1883-1922, commercial sapphire mining was commenced in 1919 at Frazers Creek near Inverell. Rich alluvial deposits in streams were worked initially by hand miners, the Inverell district is in a fertile agricultural region which produces a wide range of crops, including wheat, barley, oats, sorghum, wine grapes and maize. There are also some mining activities with tin, sapphires, zircons, Inverell is known as the ‘Sapphire City’ because of the sapphires that found throughout the local district, contributing to a major part of Australias sapphire production. Copeton Dam, the main water supply, was completed in 1976. While being smaller than Sydney Harbour, it can hold nearly 2 times the capacity of Port Jackson, the Inland Fishing Festival is held there every year. The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is a one day cycling event. Beginning in Grafton, passing through Glen Innes and finishing in Inverell, the race starts at 23 metres above sea level and climbs to 1260 metres, before finishing in Inverell at 630 metres. The race is six to seven long, depending on weather conditions. There are two schools in Inverell, Ross Hill School and Inverell Public School
17.
Bundarra, New South Wales
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Bundarra is a small town on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on Thunderbolts Way and on the banks of the Gwydir River, in the Uralla Shire local government area,563 kilometres kilometres from the state capital, at the 2011 census, Bundarra had a population of 404 and the surrounding area had 805 persons. Bundarra is named for the Kamilaroi word for the grey kangaroo, Kamilaroi and Anaiwan people were the earliest inhabitants of the Bundarra area. A local hill nearby Bundarra called Rumbling Mountain is the subject of an Aboriginal myth that attempts to explain its periodic rumbling and shaking, Bundarra Station was founded in 1836 by Edward G. Clerk and a hotel and store were established on the future townsite. A church was constructed on the site in 1857 around the time as the town survey. The old buildings in Bundarra’s main street were constructed between 1860 and 1880, a school was established in 1869, becoming a central school in 1955. The Roman Catholic convent was built in 1908 and a newspaper, at one stage the town included three hotels. Three stores, three butchers and a bank, copper and gold were also found in the area. The bushranger, Fred Ward, known as Captain Thunderbolt, stole two horses belonging to an inspector from Abington station, near Bundarra in 1868. The Bundarra bridge, an iron lattice truss bridge, was constructed in 1881. The bridge, crossing the Gwydir River, is 204 metres in length and 5.6 metres wide between kerbs, the bridge has been listed on the Register of the National Estate, being of state significance due to its design, historical value and aesthetic appearance. The bridge was the focus of a community celebration for its centenary and is still in use today. Bundarra Police Station and Courthouse together with The Basin Nature Reserve, Bundarra is part of the Bundarra-Barraba Important Bird Area which is home to one of only three breeding areas in New South Wales for the endangered regent honeyeater. The colony consists of around 30 birds of around 1,500 remaining in total, platypus can be seen in the Gwydir River at Bundarra near the Bundarra bridge. The General Store operates as a basic post service too, with the full post office closing in August 2016, camping is possible at the camping ground with powered sites and hot shower facilities, and at a free site on the edge of town and on the river. Annual events in town include the Agricultural show in January, the Goat Races in April, there are good fishing spots along the Gwydir River where it is possible to catch some Murray cod
18.
Pecan
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The pecan is a species of hickory native to Mexico and the southcentral and southeastern regions of the United States. Pecan is from an Algonquian word variously referring to pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts, there are many variant pronunciations, some regional and others not. The most common American pronunciation is /piˈkɑːn/, the most common British one is /pɪˈkæn/, unusually, there is little agreement in the United States, even regionally, as to the correct pronunciation. The pecan tree is a deciduous tree, growing to 20–40 m in height. It typically has a spread of 12–23 m with a trunk up to 2 m diameter, a 10-year-old sapling will stand about 5 m tall. The leaves are alternate, 30–45 cm long, and pinnate with 9–17 leaflets, each leaflet 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. A pecan, like the fruit of all members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe. The husks are produced from the tissue of the flower, while the part known as the nut develops from the endocarp. The husk itself is aeneous, oval to oblong,2. 6–6 cm long and 1. 5–3 cm broad. The outer husk is 3–4 mm thick, starts out green and turns brown at maturity, the seeds of the pecan are edible, with a rich, buttery flavor. They can be fresh or used in cooking, particularly in sweet desserts. One of the most common desserts with the pecan as an ingredient is the pecan pie. Pecans are also an ingredient in praline candy. In addition to the seed, the wood is also used in making furniture. Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops, although wild pecans were well known among the colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. Today, the U. S. produces between 80% and 95% of the worlds pecans, with a crop of 150–200 thousand tons from more than 10 million trees. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October, historically, the leading pecan-producing state in the U. S. Outside the United States, pecans are grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Mexico, Peru and they can be grown from USDA hardiness zones approximately 5 to 9, provided summers are also hot and humid
19.
Cotton
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Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the family of Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will tend to increase the dispersal of the seeds. The plant is a native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa. The greatest diversity of wild species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds, the fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. Current estimates for world production are about 25 million tonnes or 110 million bales annually, China is the worlds largest producer of cotton, but most of this is used domestically. The United States has been the largest exporter for many years, in the United States, cotton is usually measured in bales, which measure approximately 0.48 cubic meters and weigh 226.8 kilograms. Cotton cultivation in the region is dated to the Indus Valley Civilization, the Indus cotton industry was well-developed and some methods used in cotton spinning and fabrication continued to be used until the industrialization of India. Between 2000 and 1000 BC cotton became widespread across much of India, for example, it has been found at the site of Hallus in Karnataka dating from around 1000 BC. Cotton fabrics discovered in a cave near Tehuacán, Mexico have been dated to around 5800 BC, the domestication of Gossypium hirsutum in Mexico is dated between 3400 and 2300 BC. Cotton was grown upriver, made into nets, and traded with fishing villages along the coast for supplies of fish. The Spanish who came to Mexico and Peru in the early 16th century found the people growing cotton and this may be a reference to tree cotton, Gossypium arboreum, which is a native of the Indian subcontinent. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, Cotton has been spun, woven and it clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, in Iran, the history of cotton dates back to the Achaemenid era, however, there are few sources about the planting of cotton in pre-Islamic Iran. The planting of cotton was common in Merv, Ray and Pars of Iran, in Persian poets poems, especially Ferdowsis Shahname, there are references to cotton. Marco Polo refers to the products of Persia, including cotton. John Chardin, a French traveler of the 17th century who visited the Safavid Persia, during the Han dynasty, cotton was grown by Chinese peoples in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Mohamed Ali Pasha accepted the proposition and granted himself the monopoly on the sale and export of cotton in Egypt, and later dictated cotton should be grown in preference to other crops
20.
Lucerne
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Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of about 81,057 people, Lucerne is the most populous town in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media of this region. The citys urban area consists of 17 municipalities and towns located in three different cantons with a population of about 250,000 people. Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and its outflow, one of the citys famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century. The official language of Lucerne is German, but the spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. After the fall of the Roman Empire beginning in the 6th century, in 1178 Lucerne acquired its independence from the jurisdiction of Murbach Abbey, and the founding of the city proper probably occurred that same year. The city gained importance as a strategically located gateway for the commerce from the Gotthard trade route. By 1290 Lucerne had become a self-sufficient city of size with about 3000 inhabitants. About this time King Rudolph I von Habsburg gained authority over the Monastery of St. Leodegar and its lands, the populace was not content with the increasing Habsburg influence, and Lucerne allied with neighboring towns to seek independence from their rule. Along with Lucerne, the three other forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed the eternal Swiss Confederacy, known as the Eidgenossenschaft, later the cities of Zürich, Zug and Bern joined the alliance. With the help of these additions, the rule of Austria over the area came to an end, the issue was settled by Lucerne’s victory over the Habsburgs in the Battle of Sempach in 1386. For Lucerne this victory ignited an era of expansion, the city shortly granted many rights to itself, rights which had been withheld by the Habsburgs until then. By this time the borders of Lucerne were approximately those of today, in 1415 Lucerne gained Reichsfreiheit from Emperor Sigismund and became a strong member of the Swiss confederacy. The city developed its infrastructure, raised taxes, and appointed its own local officials, the city’s population of 3000 dropped about 40% due to the Black Plague and several wars around 1350. In 1419 town records show the first witch trial against a male person, among the growing towns of the confederacy, Lucerne was especially popular in attracting new residents. As the confederacy broke up during Reformation after 1520, most cities became Protestant, after the victory of the Catholics over the Protestants in the Battle at Kappel in 1531, the Catholic towns dominated the confederacy. The future, however, belonged to the Protestant cities like Zürich, Bern and Basel, the former prominent position of Lucerne in the confederacy was lost forever
21.
Fuse plug
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A fuse plug is a collapsible dam installed on spillways in dams to increase the dams capacity. The principle behind the plug is that the majority of water that overflows a dams spillway can be safely dammed except in high flood conditions. The fuse plug may be a container, a steel structure or a concrete block. Under normal flow conditions the water will spill over the fuse plug and down the spillway. In high flood conditions, where the velocity may be so high that the dam itself may be put in danger, the fuse plug simply washes away. Fuse plugs are used in many dams throughout the world, including at Warragamba Dam in New South Wales
22.
Compression member
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Compression members are structural elements that are pushed together or carry a load, more technically they are subjected only to axial compressive forces. That is, the loads are applied on the axis through the centroid of the member cross section. In buildings posts and columns are almost always compression members as are the top chord of trusses, for a compression member, such as a column, the principal stress comes mainly from axial forces, that is forces that fall along one line, usually the centerline. The loading capacity of a column is determined by strength limit of the material. The strength of a column of intermediate size is limited by its degree of inelasticity, a long column is constrained by the elastic limit. Arch Brown truss Buckling List of structural elements Truss Strut Columns and other compression members Bicycle compression members Numerical load numbers for reinforced concrete compression members
23.
Power station
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A power station, also referred to as a power plant or powerhouse and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Most power stations contain one or more generators, a machine that converts mechanical power into electrical power. The relative motion between a field and a conductor creates an electrical current. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely, most power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity. Others use nuclear power, but there is an use of cleaner renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave. There is some debate within utility and engineering circles over whether a solar array, or wind farm, should be referred to as a power station, in 1868 a hydro electric power station was designed and built by Lord Armstrong at Cragside, England. It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos, the electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings. In the early 1870s Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry. In the autumn of 1882, a central station providing public power was built in Godalming and it was proposed after the town failed to reach an agreement on the rate charged by the gas company, so the town council decided to use electricity. It used hydroelectric power that was used to street and household lighting, the system was not a commercial success and the town reverted to gas. In 1882 a the worlds first coal-fired public power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, was built in London, a Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 125-horsepower steam engine that drove a 27-ton generator. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, the customers included the City Temple and the Old Bailey. Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post Office, Johnson arranged for the supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate. In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. The station ran until destroyed by fire in 1890, the station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. Because of the DC distribution, the area was small. The War of Currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, DC systems with a service radius of a mile or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations. AC systems used a range of frequencies depending on the type of load, lighting load using higher frequencies
24.
Electricity
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Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence of electric charge. Although initially considered a separate to magnetism, since the development of Maxwells Equations both are recognized as part of a single phenomenon, electromagnetism. Various common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges, in addition, electricity is at the heart of many modern technologies. The presence of a charge, which can be either positive or negative. On the other hand, the movement of charges, which is known as electric current. When a charge is placed in a location with non-zero electric field, the magnitude of this force is given by Coulombs Law. Thus, if that charge were to move, the field would be doing work on the electric charge. Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though progress in theoretical understanding remained slow until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even then, practical applications for electricity were few, and it would not be until the nineteenth century that engineers were able to put it to industrial and residential use. The rapid expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry, electricitys extraordinary versatility means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting, communications, and computation. Electrical power is now the backbone of modern industrial society, long before any knowledge of electricity existed, people were aware of shocks from electric fish. Ancient Egyptian texts dating from 2750 BCE referred to these fish as the Thunderer of the Nile, Electric fish were again reported millennia later by ancient Greek, Roman and Arabic naturalists and physicians. Patients suffering from such as gout or headache were directed to touch electric fish in the hope that the powerful jolt might cure them. Ancient cultures around the Mediterranean knew that certain objects, such as rods of amber, Thales was incorrect in believing the attraction was due to a magnetic effect, but later science would prove a link between magnetism and electricity. He coined the New Latin word electricus to refer to the property of attracting small objects after being rubbed and this association gave rise to the English words electric and electricity, which made their first appearance in print in Thomas Brownes Pseudodoxia Epidemica of 1646. Further work was conducted by Otto von Guericke, Robert Boyle, Stephen Gray, in the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin conducted extensive research in electricity, selling his possessions to fund his work. In June 1752 he is reputed to have attached a key to the bottom of a dampened kite string. A succession of jumping from the key to the back of his hand showed that lightning was indeed electrical in nature
25.
Irrigation in Australia
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Overuse or poor management of irrigation is held responsible by some for environmental problems such as soil salinity and loss of habitat for native flora and fauna. Irrigation differs from dryland farming in Australia in its level of intensity, common crops produced using irrigation include rice, cotton, canola, sugar, various fruits and other tree crops and pasture, hay and grain for use in beef and dairy production. Surface irrigation is the most common method in Australia, with drip. All rights to use and control water are vested in the state, the first large-scale irrigation schemes in Australia were introduced during the 1880s, partially in response to drought. In 1915 the River Murray Waters Agreement was signed, setting out basic conditions for the water use which remain in force today. Towards the end of the 20th century, environmental problems in the basin became serious as diversions for irrigation approached or exceeded the capacity of natural flows, following negotiations beginning in 1985, the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement was signed in 1987. The more comprehensive National Water Initiative was adopted in 2004, in general, water for irrigation comes from two main sources, river systems and underground aquifers. Major river systems used for irrigation in Australia include the Murray-Darling system and this includes the Burdekin River Irrigation Area in North Queensland where irrigation is used during the dry season for double-cropping. A major source of water in Australia is the Great Artesian Basin. It contains 42% of the farmland and produces 40% of the nations food. The first schemes for irrigation commenced in the half of the nineteenth century. Goulburn Weir, constructed from 1887 to 1891, was the first major diversion structure built for development in Australia. There he met the Canadian brothers George and William Chaffey who had worked on irrigation schemes in California, in 1886 the Chaffey brothers came to Australia and selected a derelict sheep station covering 250,000 acres at Mildura as the site for their first irrigation settlement. They signed an agreement with the Victorian government to spend at least A£300,000 on permanent improvements at Mildura in the twenty years. Also in 1886/87, the Chaffey brothers were invited by John Downer, the Dethridge wheel, used for measuring flow of water delivered to individual farms was developed in 1910. Irrigation in the Murrumbidgee valley began in with the experiments of agricultural pioneer. This private scheme involved the construction of around 320 kilometres of channels to irrigate about 162 square kilometres of land, mcCaugheys success appeared to have encouraged the New South Wales government to commence large scale irrigation. This process began in 1906 with the proclamation of the Barren Jack, burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River near Tumut was commenced in 1907, work commenced on the channels and the first farms were established soon after
26.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
27.
Government of New South Wales
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The Government of New South Wales, also referred to as the New South Wales Government or NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales, in Australia. The Government of New South Wales, a constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1856 as prescribed in its Constitution. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Section 109 of the Australian Constitution provides that, where a State law is inconsistent with a federal law, initially the Australian states retained significant independence. Over time, however, that independence has been eroded by both the proliferation of Commonwealth Law, and the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth. New South Wales is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. The Governor, as representative of the Crown, is the repository of power, which is exercised by him or her on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales. The Premier and Ministers are appointed by the Governor, and hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly. In 2006, the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in New South Wales, the Act was assented to by the Queen on 3 April 2006. The following individuals serve as government ministers, at the pleasure of the Queen, the government ministers are listed in order of seniority, while their opposition counterparts are listed to correspond with the government ministers. All Opposition counterparts are members of the Parliament of New South Wales
28.
Reservoir
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A reservoir is a storage space for fluids. These fluids may be water, hydrocarbons or gas, a reservoir usually means an enlarged natural or artificial lake, storage pond or impoundment created using a dam or lock to store water. Reservoirs can be created by controlling a stream that drains a body of water. They can also be constructed in river valleys using a dam, alternately, a reservoir can be built by excavating flat ground or constructing retaining walls and levees. Tank reservoirs store liquids or gases in storage tanks that may be elevated, at grade level, tank reservoirs for water are also called cisterns. Underground reservoirs are used to store liquids, principally either water or petroleum, a dam constructed in a valley relies on the natural topography to provide most of the basin of the reservoir. Dams are typically located at a part of a valley downstream of a natural basin. The valley sides act as walls, with the dam located at the narrowest practical point to provide strength. In many reservoir construction projects, people have to be moved and re-housed, construction of a reservoir in a valley will usually need the river to be diverted during part of the build, often through a temporary tunnel or by-pass channel. In hilly regions, reservoirs are constructed by enlarging existing lakes. Sometimes in such reservoirs the new top water level exceeds the height on one or more of the feeder streams such as at Llyn Clywedog in Mid Wales. In such cases additional side dams are required to contain the reservoir, where water is pumped or siphoned from a river of variable quality or quantity, bank-side reservoirs may be built to store the water. Such reservoirs are usually formed partly by excavation and partly by building a complete encircling bund or embankment, the water stored in such reservoirs may stay there for several months, during which time normal biological processes may substantially reduce many contaminants and almost eliminate any turbidity. The use of reservoirs also allows water abstraction to be stopped for some time. Service reservoirs store fully treated potable water close to the point of distribution, many service reservoirs are constructed as water towers, often as elevated structures on concrete pillars where the landscape is relatively flat. Other service reservoirs can be almost entirely underground, especially in hilly or mountainous country. In the United Kingdom, Thames Water has many underground reservoirs, sometimes called cisterns, built in the 1800s. A good example is the Honor Oak Reservoir in London, constructed between 1901 and 1909, when it was completed it was said to be the largest brick built underground reservoir in the world and it is still one of the largest in Europe
29.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
30.
Petersham, New South Wales
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Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, Petersham is bordered by the suburbs of Leichhardt to the north, Stanmore to the east, Marrickville to the south and Lewisham to the west. Taverners Hill, named after Fred Taverner, is a locality in the part of the suburb. Major Francis Grose sent workmen to the area in 1793 to clear the bush and plant corn and he named the area Peters-Ham or Petersham after his native village in Surrey, England. Petersham remained an area, winning awards for some of the best crops. Kangaroo hunting was popular in the area. The name was used for the surrounding parish. Dr Robert Wardell purchased land from many grantees in the district, following his murder by escaped convicts in 1834, the estate was subdivided. The train line from Sydney to Parramatta opened in 1855 and trains stopped here from 1857, a platform was built in 1863. The original Petersham post office became Annandale in 1855, another post office opened as Norwood in May 1860 and was moved to Petersham station in 1870. The first public school opened in 1878, Petersham municipality was incorporated in 1872. The local council merged with Marrickville and St Peters in 1948 to form the Municipality of Marrickville, in 1916, the Boys section of Fort Street High School moved to Petersham from Observatory Hill, followed by the Girls section in 1975. Mosquito HR576 RAF disintegrated over the inner western Sydney suburbs of Leichhardt, the crew of two were killed but fortunately no one on the ground was seriously injured by the falling debris of the Mosquito. The Daily Telegraph of 3 May 1945 stated that two civilians were injured and a total of 18 properties were damaged, five houses were set on fire by the falling debris. It was suspected that a violent pull out from a power dive, the two crew members tried to escape from the aircraft but they were not high enough for their parachutes to open. Flight Lieutenant David Rochford of Oxford, England and LAC Charles Boydell from Mosman were both killed, flight Lieutenant Rochfords body was found in the playground of Petersham Public School while LAC Boydells body was found on the roof of a railway building about 100 metres away. A small row of shops lines New Canterbury Road and extends down Audley Street towards the railway station, there are some Portuguese businesses here including several Portuguese restaurants, some of which are renowned for selling traditional styled flame-grilled chicken and cod dishes. Local landmarks include the Petersham Town Hall, the water tower, the Great Western Avenue or Parramatta Road passes Petersham where shops are along the street
31.
Upper Nepean Scheme
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The Upper Nepean Scheme is a series of dams and weirs in the catchments of the Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers of New South Wales, Australia. The scheme includes four dams and two weirs and provides water to the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire, by 1867, Sydney was outgrowing the water supply available from Botany Swamps and the Governor appointed a Commission to recommend a future water supply. In 1869, the Commission recommended the Upper Nepean Scheme, work on the Scheme began in 1880 and was completed in 1888. The Scheme was a significant feat of engineering at the time of construction, in June 1885 Sydney was in the grip of a severe drought and the Upper Nepean Scheme was incomplete. The Government accepted an offer from Hudson Brothers to bridge the gaps, duplicating the entire length of the half built permanent scheme this became known as Hudsons Temporary Scheme and was turned into the swamps on 30 January 1886. This emergency work was dismantled as the scheme was completed. As originally built, the Upper Nepean Scheme was capable of supporting a population of 540,000. By 1902, Sydney had a population of 523,000 and was again in the grip of a severe drought, a Royal Commission appointed to report on Sydneys water supply recommended a dam on the Cataract River and construction commenced in the same year. Dams were subsequently built on each of the Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers, each dam includes a public picnic area. In total, the four dams hold 483,600 ML, the Scheme is now managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority. Cataract Dam is a dam with an unlined side spillway extending from the left abutment. It is 183 feet tall,811 feet long and holds 97,190 ML of water, Cataract Dam was the first dam built in the Upper Nepean Scheme, it was also first dam in Australia to use pre-cast moulded concrete blocks for the upstream face of the dam. The core of the dam is large sandstone blocks, quarried onsite, the downstream face is of mass poured basalt concrete, with a basalt facing. A readily accessible source of rock was located some distance away at Sherbrooke, also known as Ferndale. To transport the basalt from the quarry to the dam construction site, Dam construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1907, and the spillway was widened in 1915. Ernest Macartney de Burgh was the engineer for the project from 1904. Poet Banjo Paterson wrote a satirical ballad The Dam that Keele Built about the politics behind the construction of Cataract Dam, Cordeaux Dam is a curved dam with an unlined side spillway on the left abutment. It is 191 feet high,1,327 feet long, construction began in 1918 and was completed in 1926
32.
Avon Dam
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The Upper Nepean Scheme is a series of dams and weirs in the catchments of the Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers of New South Wales, Australia. The scheme includes four dams and two weirs and provides water to the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire, by 1867, Sydney was outgrowing the water supply available from Botany Swamps and the Governor appointed a Commission to recommend a future water supply. In 1869, the Commission recommended the Upper Nepean Scheme, work on the Scheme began in 1880 and was completed in 1888. The Scheme was a significant feat of engineering at the time of construction, in June 1885 Sydney was in the grip of a severe drought and the Upper Nepean Scheme was incomplete. The Government accepted an offer from Hudson Brothers to bridge the gaps, duplicating the entire length of the half built permanent scheme this became known as Hudsons Temporary Scheme and was turned into the swamps on 30 January 1886. This emergency work was dismantled as the scheme was completed. As originally built, the Upper Nepean Scheme was capable of supporting a population of 540,000. By 1902, Sydney had a population of 523,000 and was again in the grip of a severe drought, a Royal Commission appointed to report on Sydneys water supply recommended a dam on the Cataract River and construction commenced in the same year. Dams were subsequently built on each of the Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers, each dam includes a public picnic area. In total, the four dams hold 483,600 ML, the Scheme is now managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority. Cataract Dam is a dam with an unlined side spillway extending from the left abutment. It is 183 feet tall,811 feet long and holds 97,190 ML of water, Cataract Dam was the first dam built in the Upper Nepean Scheme, it was also first dam in Australia to use pre-cast moulded concrete blocks for the upstream face of the dam. The core of the dam is large sandstone blocks, quarried onsite, the downstream face is of mass poured basalt concrete, with a basalt facing. A readily accessible source of rock was located some distance away at Sherbrooke, also known as Ferndale. To transport the basalt from the quarry to the dam construction site, Dam construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1907, and the spillway was widened in 1915. Ernest Macartney de Burgh was the engineer for the project from 1904. Poet Banjo Paterson wrote a satirical ballad The Dam that Keele Built about the politics behind the construction of Cataract Dam, Cordeaux Dam is a curved dam with an unlined side spillway on the left abutment. It is 191 feet high,1,327 feet long, construction began in 1918 and was completed in 1926
33.
Cataract Dam
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Completed in 1907 under the supervision of Ernest Macartney de Burgh, the dam is currently managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. A straight dam with an unlined side spillway extending from the abutment, it is 56 metres tall,247 metres long. Cataract Dam was the first dam built in the Upper Nepean Scheme and it was also first dam in Australia to use pre-cast moulded concrete blocks for the upstream face of the dam. The downstream face is of mass poured basalt concrete, with a basalt facing, a readily accessible source of suitable rock was located at Sherbrooke, situated near the top of Bulli Pass. To transport the basalt from the quarry to the dam construction site, the dam is built of cyclopean masonry, composed of sandstone blocks weighing from 2 to 4.5 long tons. These were quarried at the site and bedded in cement mortar, the vertical joints were filled with basalt or sandstone concrete. The upstream face consisted of basalt concrete moulded blocks set in a cement mortar, the downstream face was of basalt concrete,1.8 metres thick in the lower section and 0.9 metres thick in the upper section. There were two lines of 122-centimetre diameter pipes which passed through the dam and discharged water into the Nepean River, the flow is controlled by a Larner Johnson needle valve. The dam wall was given a decorative finish, the upstream parapet was castellated with sandstone blocks while the top of the downstream wall was corbelled in concrete. In approximately the midsection of the dam stands the valve house and this is finished in quarried sandstone blocks with ashlar coursing. It features a steeply pitched slate-covered pipped roof topped with finials, Dam construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1907, and the spillway was widened in 1915. E. M. de Burgh was the engineer for the project from 1904. The Upper Nepean Scheme was commenced in 1880 after it was realised that the Botany Swamps scheme was insufficient to meet Sydneys water supply needs. The Nepean project consisted of the construction of a weir across the Nepean River to divert of the rivers Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean, to the Prospect Reservoir. The design and construction of Cataract Dam was undertaken by the Water Supply and Sewerage Branch and Harbour, list of reservoirs and dams in New South Wales
34.
Cordeaux Dam
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The Upper Nepean Scheme is a series of dams and weirs in the catchments of the Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers of New South Wales, Australia. The scheme includes four dams and two weirs and provides water to the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire, by 1867, Sydney was outgrowing the water supply available from Botany Swamps and the Governor appointed a Commission to recommend a future water supply. In 1869, the Commission recommended the Upper Nepean Scheme, work on the Scheme began in 1880 and was completed in 1888. The Scheme was a significant feat of engineering at the time of construction, in June 1885 Sydney was in the grip of a severe drought and the Upper Nepean Scheme was incomplete. The Government accepted an offer from Hudson Brothers to bridge the gaps, duplicating the entire length of the half built permanent scheme this became known as Hudsons Temporary Scheme and was turned into the swamps on 30 January 1886. This emergency work was dismantled as the scheme was completed. As originally built, the Upper Nepean Scheme was capable of supporting a population of 540,000. By 1902, Sydney had a population of 523,000 and was again in the grip of a severe drought, a Royal Commission appointed to report on Sydneys water supply recommended a dam on the Cataract River and construction commenced in the same year. Dams were subsequently built on each of the Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers, each dam includes a public picnic area. In total, the four dams hold 483,600 ML, the Scheme is now managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority. Cataract Dam is a dam with an unlined side spillway extending from the left abutment. It is 183 feet tall,811 feet long and holds 97,190 ML of water, Cataract Dam was the first dam built in the Upper Nepean Scheme, it was also first dam in Australia to use pre-cast moulded concrete blocks for the upstream face of the dam. The core of the dam is large sandstone blocks, quarried onsite, the downstream face is of mass poured basalt concrete, with a basalt facing. A readily accessible source of rock was located some distance away at Sherbrooke, also known as Ferndale. To transport the basalt from the quarry to the dam construction site, Dam construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1907, and the spillway was widened in 1915. Ernest Macartney de Burgh was the engineer for the project from 1904. Poet Banjo Paterson wrote a satirical ballad The Dam that Keele Built about the politics behind the construction of Cataract Dam, Cordeaux Dam is a curved dam with an unlined side spillway on the left abutment. It is 191 feet high,1,327 feet long, construction began in 1918 and was completed in 1926
35.
Nepean Dam
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The Upper Nepean Scheme is a series of dams and weirs in the catchments of the Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers of New South Wales, Australia. The scheme includes four dams and two weirs and provides water to the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire, by 1867, Sydney was outgrowing the water supply available from Botany Swamps and the Governor appointed a Commission to recommend a future water supply. In 1869, the Commission recommended the Upper Nepean Scheme, work on the Scheme began in 1880 and was completed in 1888. The Scheme was a significant feat of engineering at the time of construction, in June 1885 Sydney was in the grip of a severe drought and the Upper Nepean Scheme was incomplete. The Government accepted an offer from Hudson Brothers to bridge the gaps, duplicating the entire length of the half built permanent scheme this became known as Hudsons Temporary Scheme and was turned into the swamps on 30 January 1886. This emergency work was dismantled as the scheme was completed. As originally built, the Upper Nepean Scheme was capable of supporting a population of 540,000. By 1902, Sydney had a population of 523,000 and was again in the grip of a severe drought, a Royal Commission appointed to report on Sydneys water supply recommended a dam on the Cataract River and construction commenced in the same year. Dams were subsequently built on each of the Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers, each dam includes a public picnic area. In total, the four dams hold 483,600 ML, the Scheme is now managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority. Cataract Dam is a dam with an unlined side spillway extending from the left abutment. It is 183 feet tall,811 feet long and holds 97,190 ML of water, Cataract Dam was the first dam built in the Upper Nepean Scheme, it was also first dam in Australia to use pre-cast moulded concrete blocks for the upstream face of the dam. The core of the dam is large sandstone blocks, quarried onsite, the downstream face is of mass poured basalt concrete, with a basalt facing. A readily accessible source of rock was located some distance away at Sherbrooke, also known as Ferndale. To transport the basalt from the quarry to the dam construction site, Dam construction began in 1902 and was completed in 1907, and the spillway was widened in 1915. Ernest Macartney de Burgh was the engineer for the project from 1904. Poet Banjo Paterson wrote a satirical ballad The Dam that Keele Built about the politics behind the construction of Cataract Dam, Cordeaux Dam is a curved dam with an unlined side spillway on the left abutment. It is 191 feet high,1,327 feet long, construction began in 1918 and was completed in 1926
36.
Prospect Reservoir
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The eastern bounds of the reservoir are a recreational area and the western periphery are within the bounds of Western Sydney Parklands. Shortly after 1808, William Lawson was appointed aide-de-camp to George Johnston and was granted 500 acres at Prospect and he built a large mansion there in the 1820s. He died on the property on 16 June 1850 and the property was acquired by the Metropolitan Water Board. The house was demolished in 1929 and most of the low lying surrounding property is submerged, the dam was the first earthfill embankment dam in Australia and was completed in 1888. At the time it was intended to deliver water from the Upper Nepean Scheme via the Upper Canal to the reservoir, prior to the completion of the Lower Canal, the water shortage still needed to be dealt with. Hudson Brothers of Clyde built a temporary raised pipe structure to deliver water from Prospect direct to the Botany Swamps, in May 1940 the reservoir became a part of the Warragamba Emergency Scheme. Pipes were constructed to deliver water 26 kilometres from Warragamba, since the Prospect Water Filtration Plant was completed in 1996, untreated water is generally not drawn from Prospect reservoir any more. Instead, the water is piped to the plant directly from Warragamba Dam. The reservoir remains a part of Sydney Waters storage network, however it is anticipated that it only be utilised for water supply purposes on average of five days in any five-year period. As the site attracts up to half a million visitors annually, the reservoir has a large recreational on its eastern side, accessed by William Lawson Drive. There is an area called George Maunder Lookout offering spectacular views of the reservoir. The reservoir also has a number of spots with BBQ. The Prospect Reservoir is open to public during the week and weekend from 6,00 AM to 6,30 PM during daylight saving time, map Sydney Catchment Authority Lake Parramatta Chipping Norton Lake Prospect Hill Geography of Sydney Georges River catchment
37.
Warragamba Dam
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Warragamba Dam, a concrete gravity dam, creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supply for the Australian city of Sydney, New South Wales. Constructed between 1948 and 1960, the dam created capacity for a reservoir of 2,031 gigalitres and is fed by a catchment area of 9,051 square kilometres, the surface area of the lake covers 75 square kilometres of the now flooded Burragorang Valley. Enhancements to the dam were completed in 2009, including the addition of a spillway to manage extreme flood events. A small hydroelectric station is incorporated into the design of the dam and may operate at times of peak discharge. In early March 2012, the dam spilled for the first time in fourteen years and this spill followed a period of prolonged drought which saw the dam fall to historic lows of below 33 percent in 2007. The Warragamba River flows through a gorge that varies in width from 300 metres to 600 metres and this gorge opens at its upper end into a large valley, the Burragorang Valley. This river configuration allows for a short but high dam wall, in the gorge. In 1845, Paweł Strzelecki drew attention to the Warragamba River as a water catchment, in 1867. Between 1867 and 1946, supporters proposed various schemes before the site, in 1940, a weir and pumping station, known as the Warragamba Emergency Scheme, reached completion, just downstream of the main dam site. In 1943 the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board invited the geologist William Browne to investigate a proposed site, Browne found a more suitable site and continued as geological adviser until completion. The site was reviewed and approved by Dr John Savage, considered the pre-eminent expert in this field, the Board appointed Thomas Upton as the engineer. Dam construction began in 1948 and was completed in 1960, the resulting dam of the Warragamba River formed Lake Burragorang, which is one of the largest reservoirs for urban water supply in the world. The dam wall comprises 1,612,000 cubic yards of concrete and it was laid as interlocking blocks roughly 17 metres on each side, which were later grouted together to form a continuous, monolithic wall. It is so large that engineers had to use two techniques to prevent the temperature from becoming too hot as the concrete set, one was to add ice to the wet concrete, the first application of this technique in Australia. The other was to embed cooling pipes into the concrete and circulate chilled water through the pipes, as a result, the dam wall was cooled in a few months instead of the estimated 100 years it would have taken to cool naturally. The main spillway has five crest gates, A central drum gate with a 27 metres clear span with a pair of gates on each side. Each radial gate has a 12 metres clear span, the drum gate is hinged along the upstream edge to the upstream crest and lowers into the dam wall to allow water to flow over it. When fully open, it forms a continuation of the crest profile, all gates open automatically as the dam passes full water level, or can be manually opened
38.
Lake Burragorang
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Lake Burragorang is an Australian man-made water supply dammed reservoir. Lake Burragorang is impounded by Warragamba Dam and is located in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the 2, 031-gigalitre reservoir collects water from the converged flows of the Coxs, Kowmung, Nattai, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, and Warragamba rivers and their associated tributaries. The reservoir is the water storage for greater metropolitan Sydney. A number of farming towns and coal mines were located in the area, all of these are now underwater. Construction of Warragamba dam commenced in 1948 and was completed in 1960, the reservoirs usable capacity is 2,027 gigalitres. Prior to April 2006, the capacity was 1,857 gigalitres. There are fears, however, that population pressures may stretch the reservoirs ability to furnish Sydney residents with needed water well into the 21st century. The citys population is rising by about 50,000 every year, and while water restrictions were imposed late in 2003, there have been times when the reservoir has become seriously depleted. On 8 February 2007 the lake recorded a low of 32. 5% of capacity. To prevent any chance of water supply failure, the NSW Government authorised the construction and operation of the Sydney Desalination Plant to augment Sydneys water supply, the dam reached maximum capacity and spilled in March 2012, the first time it had done so in fourteen years. Lake Burragorang is surrounded by a 3 kilometres wide zone to protect the integrity of the water supply. There are two access corridors for bushwalkers, Coxs River to Mount Cookem, and Belloon Pass to Yerranderie, limited public vehicle access is allowed on fire trail W4 from Sheahys Creek to Yerranderie. A hydroelectric power station at Warragamba Dam begins operating once the level in the reservoir reaches to within 1 metre of full capacity and its output is 50 megawatts, but the dam water level has not been high enough for it to operate since 1998. List of Blue Mountains articles Sydney Catchment Authority - Warragamba Dam Sydneys Dam Levels - current statistics and graphs
39.
Woronora Dam
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The Woronora Dam is a concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled serpentine spillway across the Woronora River, located south of Greater Metropolitan Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The principal purpose of the dam is for water supply for Sydneys southern suburbs. The impounded 71, 790-megalitre reservoir is also called Woronora Dam and is incorrectly called Lake Woronora. Water was first supplied to the Sutherland Shire in 1911 when a 150-millimetre pipe was laid from Penshurst Reservoir across Georges River at Tom Uglys Point to Miranda, in 1920 a scheme to supply water from the Woronora River to Sutherland and Cronulla was rejected. It was resurrected five years later when the then Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board became the sole constructing authority for water works in the metropolitan area. The scheme involved the construction of a dam, which could be increased in size if necessary, on the Woronora River, construction of the dam began in 1927, the fifth dam built as part of Sydneys water supply. As forecast, the size of the dam wall had to be increased two years later, workers accommodation was spartan but functional with small bungalows built of fibrolite and placed on brick or concrete piers on the sloping ground. In 1930 The Depression intervened, suspending work on the dam, the men were forced to look for work further afield, even interstate, often leaving their families behind to live on the Woronora site. Some families had ties to the history of Sydneys dams, moving from the Nepean Dam project to Woronora. Other workers on Woronora Dam were former miners from nearby Helensburgh. Late in 1931 the Unemployment Relief Account released funds to build a weir to provide water to the Sutherland-Cronulla area and four years later, Woronora Dam was completed in 1941 at a cost of about A$13 million. The dam is the one of Sydneys water supply dams which is not part of the Upper Nepean/Warragamba/Shoalhaven interconnected system. The dam was built with the objective of supplementing Sydneys water supply whilst the much larger Warragamba Dam was constructed, six of the cottages were retained for on-site maintenance staff housing while the rest of Woronora township site was turned into picnic and recreational areas. Woronora Dam is curved in appearance and is a gravity dam. The dam wall has a height of 66 metres and a length of 390 metres and its lower levels are built of cyclopean masonry - massive sandstone blocks that were quarried on site. The 285-thousand-cubic-metre main wall is made from metal and gravel concrete. The dam has a separate, serpentine overflow spillway that discharges floodwater at the rate of 1,470 m3/s through a concrete lined cutting into the downstream of the dam. In 1988 Woronora Dam was upgraded at a cost of A$2.9 million by a system of wall, the 75-square-kilometre catchment area together with the facilities at the dam are managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority
40.
Blowering Dam
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The dams purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The dam is part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity, the impounded reservoir is called Blowering Reservoir. Commenced in 1964, completed in 1968, and upgraded in 2010, together with releases from Burrinjuck Dam, on the Murrumbidgee River, Blowering Dam also provides a regulated flow of water for the Coleambally and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas. The dam wall constructed with 8,563 cubic metres of rock fill clay core is 112 metres high and 808 metres long. The maximum water depth is 91 metres and at 100% capacity the dam holds back 1,628,000 megalitres of water at 379 metres AHD. The surface area of the Blowering Reservoir is 44.6 square kilometres, the uncontrolled concrete chute spillway is capable of discharging 2,350 cubic metres per second. A A$33 million upgrade of facilities was completed between 2009 and 2012, and involved the construction of a wall on top of the dam wall crest. The addition of the parapet wall increased the crest height to 114 metres, Storage capacity and water releases from the dam were not altered by the upgrade. The dam houses a hydroelectric station and has one turbine generator, with a generating capacity of 80 megawatts of electricity. The power station has 86.6 metres rated hydraulic head, in 1978, Ken Warby set the Water speed record of 511 kilometres per hour on Blowering Reservoir. List of dams and reservoirs in New South Wales Hume and Hovell Track Snowy Mountains Scheme Snowy Hydro Limited Murrumbidgee, bevitt, R. Erskine, W. Gillespie, G. Harriss, J. Lake, P. Miners, B. Expert panel environmental flow assessment of various rivers affected by the Snowy Mountains Scheme, NSW Department of Water and Energy. Blowering Dam at Ken Warbys website Storage Report from NSW Water Information Hydro Power Stations at Snowy Hydro
41.
Burrinjuck Dam
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Burrinjuck Dam is a major gated concrete-walled gravity dam with three spillways across the Murrumbidgee River located in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The dams purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply, the impounded reservoir is called Lake Burrinjuck. Commenced in 1907, completed in 1928, and upgraded in 1957 and 1994, the Yass and Goodradigbee rivers also flow into the dam. Together with releases from Blowering Dam, on the Tumut River, Burrinjuck Dam also provides a flow of water for the Coleambally. The dam divides the upper and lower catchment of the Murrumbidgee River and is the storage for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. The dam wall constructed with 394 cubic metres of concrete is 91 metres high and 233 metres long, the maximum water depth is 61 metres and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 1,028,000 megalitres of water at 361 metres AHD. The surface area of the Lake Burrinjuck Reservoir is 5,500 hectares, the three sector gates plus two side channel spillways are capable of discharging 29,100 cubic metres per second. The dam houses a hydroelectric station and has one turbine generator, with a generating capacity of 28 megawatts of electricity. The pastoralist Samuel McCaughey accumulated hundreds of thousands of hectares in the Riverina after owning his first property in 1864, the New South Wales government liked his ideas so much they agreed to build a larger dam. Prior to about February 1911, the dam was known as Barren Jack, a 2 ft narrow gauge railway was constructed from the New South Wales Government Railways Main Southern Line at Goondah to bring materials to the site. The railway was about 45 kilometres long, had a grade of 1 in 30 and some 90 foot-radius curves, delays were experienced throughout the construction period. Problems were found in part of the foundations of the dam wall in 1911, delays were caused by World War I, construction of extensions to the spillways, and the fact that deep foundations were necessary. Flooding in July 1922 filled the reservoir to the height of 1,178 feet above sea level. The flood waters tore through the southern spillway and fell 200 feet to the river below. The flood water came within 2 feet of spilling into the northern spillway. Had the water entered the northern spillway, the materials, worth £25,000. Another major flood in May 1925 far exceeded all previously recorded floods, due to World War I, the dam was not completed until 1928. At the end of 1927, £1,712,730 had been spent on construction work, in 1937, it was discovered that the dam had developed a structural weakness that required remedial action
42.
Carcoar Dam
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The dams purpose includes irrigation, water supply, and water conservation. Water from the dam is released directly into the Belubula River which is used by irrigators downstream of the dam, the dam wall height is 57 metres and is 187 metres long. The maximum water depth is 41 metres and at 100% capacity the dam holds back 36,400 megalitres of water at 720 metres AHD. The surface area of the dam is 385 hectares and the catchment area is 230 square kilometres, the dam uses a free-flowing spillway which is capable of discharging 1,218 cubic metres per second. The dam is unusual in that its wall is not only curved from side-to-side, the dam is popular for water skiing, swimming, fishing windsurfing and sailing. Camping, picnic and barbecue facilities are available, murray Cod, Golden Perch, Silver Perch and Rainbow Trout are all stocked fish in Carcoar Dam with Redfin present. The purpose of the wetland was to act as a nutrient sink which could capture nutrients prior to entering the reservoir. List of dams and reservoirs in New South Wales Lachlan River catchment
