In 1963, for A-Level in England, we studied Australia and heard about the Snowy Mountains Scheme, an amazing feat of engineering that stopped snow melt draining straight into the Pacific Ocean by reversing the direction of the Snowy River so that it went, via a network of tunnels and reservoirs, in the opposite direction towards the dry centre of the continent. Later, in Sydney, I would meet people from all over Europe who said, "I came out originally to work on the Snowy Scheme." But I don't think I got a concept of what that all meant until I visited the mouth of the Snowy River in Victoria in 2019 and saw a wide river estuary with a tiny trickle of water flowing into it. As a result I took notice earlier this year when we visited the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre at Cooma. As well as providing irrigation water to the near inland the scheme generates huge amounts of hydroelectricity for supply to NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Snowy 2.0 is a current extension of the scheme to recycle water through the electricity generation process, by forcing it to flow uphill through new tunnels back into the holding dam. We were the direct beneficiaries of this scheme while we were camping at Yarrangobilly as there was a temporary phone tower nearby, put there to assist the scheme.
1 Comment
Roy Fong
10/2/2022 09:54:17 am
Hi Gillian,
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AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
February 2024
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