ACT water catchments | Canberra and Queanbeyan water supply
The ACT draws its water supply from three separate catchment systems.
The Cotter River catchment
The Cotter River catchment upper reaches are part of Namadgi National Park and the catchment lies within the borders of the ACT. The river itself starts high up on the Brindabella Mountains and is fed by melting snow and rainfall. Corin, Bendora and Cotter dams are part of the Cotter River catchment, which are heavily protected from outside activities that may affect water quality. Water stored in the highest dam, Corin, is released into the Cotter River to add to the level of storage in Bendora dam. From Bendora, a large diameter pipeline brings the water by gravity flow to the treatment plant on Mount Stromlo to the west of Canberra. The Bendora gravity main is 20 kilometres long and has the capacity to carry 310 million litres of water per day. The Cotter’s water quality
The water from this catchment is of good quality, although the catchment suffered severe damage during the January 2003 bushfires. The loss of vegetation in the catchment means that the quality of water running off the catchment is more variable. Immediately after the fires, there was an increase in the turbidity (cloudiness) and associated iron and manganese in the water flowing into the three Cotter River reservoirs.
The Queanbeyan River catchment
Canberra’s water supply system also includes the Googong dam on the Queanbeyan River to the southeast of Queanbeyan.
As Googong dam is in an occupied rural catchment which includes farmlands and small communities, the water quality from this catchment can be variable and requires extensive treatment.
Murrumbidgee River
The use of water from the Murrumbidgee River commenced in May 2007 from a location near the Cotter Pumping Station as an additional water supply to the ACT’s depleted water storages.
The Murrumbidgee River is one of Australia’s major rivers and many communities use it as their water source. For decades, major towns upstream and downstream of Canberra, such as Cooma and Wagga Wagga, have drawn water from the Murrumbidgee River, treated and safely used it for drinking.