DIVERSION AND_ U'rlLISATION OF THE WATERS, OF

THE SNOWY RIVER

FINAL REPORT OF

COMMONWEALTH AND STATES SNOWY RIVER COMMITTEE

MAY, 1950

............ -------------------

CONTENTS

-1
I
I
I
I
I
Pugc ~
7
8
9 . "
II n
14 I
16
19 111
2]
23
29 Section

1. INTRODUCTION

2. GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY

3. DESCRIPTION OF SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA ..

4. EXISTING ELECTRICITY SYSTEMS, NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA ..

5. POWER ASPECTS .'

6. EXISTING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN MURRUMBIDCEE AND MURRAY

VALLEYS .'

7. IRRIGATIONAL ASPECTS "

8. DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT PROPOSAL

9. DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDED DEVELOPMENT (a) General

(h) Tumut Proposal

(c)· Snowy-Murray Proposal

10. STATISTICS OF RECOMMENDED DEVELOPMENT (a) Power made available.

(b) Water made available,

(c) Costs and Economics.

(d) Dimensions.

(e) Basis of Estimates.

11. TUNNELS AND RACE LINES

12. TRANSMISSION TO LOAD CENTRES OF POWER GENERATED ,

13. REGULATION, ON THE RIVER MURRAY, OF WATER DIVERTED FROM THE

SNOWY ," .

14. EFFECTS OF THE DIVERSION OF THE SNOWY RIVER ON LOWER REACHES

OF THE RIVER .,

15. APPORTIONMENT OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED

16. INVESTIGATIONS FOR BASIC DESIGN DATA "

17. FIELD WORK COVERED BY INVESTIGATIONS .. (a) SUrveys

(b) Geological Investigations (c) Borings

(d) River Gaugings

18. RIVER FLOW DATA

19. PRESENT STATE OF INVESTIGATIONS

20. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

32 M

35

35 36 37 37

39 41 41

Plate No.

PLANS AND DIAGRAMS

1. PHYSIOGRAPffiCAL MAP OF ,AlJ_SJ:.fu\LIA __ .:: ;;-,;- _

2. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA - SHOWING HEIGHTS

3. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA-POWER POTENTIAL

4. EXISTING·ELECTRICITY SYSTEMS, N.S.W. AND VICTORIA. . ,.

5. ESTIMATED LOAD INCREASE A..l'iD LOAD DURATION CURVE OF SYSTEMS

6. IRRIGATION AREAS ALONG MURRUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS IN N.S.W. AND VICTORIA .'

7. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA - PLAN' OF PROPOSALS '.

8. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA-DIAGRAl"lMATIC SECTIONS ALONG TUNNEL

LINES ..

9. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA-ANTICIPATED RUN-OFFS

10. SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA-GAUGING STATION SITES

n. DIAGRAMS SHOWING ANTICIPATED OUTPUT AND BEHAVIOUR OF STORAGES BASED ON AVAILABLE FLOW RECORDS (1,100 mW SNOWY-

MURRAY SCHEME).. . ".

12. DIAGRAMS SHOWING ANTICIPATED OUTPUT AND BEHAVIOUR" OF STORAGES BASED ON AVAILABLE FLOW RECORDS (1,600 mW SNOWY-

MURRAY SCHEME) .

Opposite Page

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n

12

13

16 24

28 ·32 33

56

66

APPENDICES

Appendix I.-DISTRIBUTION OF RUN-OFFS FOR CATCHMENTS Appendix H.-DEMAND STORAGE AND TOTAL FIRM CAPACITY Appendix III-DIVERSION AND COLLECTING RACES

Page 43 53 65

COMMONWEALTH ·AND STATE OFFICERS WHO COMPRISED THE COMMITTEE

Dr. L. F. LODER, M.C.E., D.Eng., M.lnst.C.E., M.I.E.{Aust.).

Mr. A. S. BROWN, M.A., LL.M., A.C.I.A.

Mr. J. M.· MAIN, 'B.E., M.lnst.C.E., M.l.E. {Aust.}.

Mr. F. H. BREWSTER.

Mr. V. J. F. BRAIN, B.E., M.I.E. (Aust.), M.1.E.E., M.A.I.E.E.

Mr. t. R. EAST, M.C.E., M.lnst.C.E., M.AmJ.M.E., .M.r.E. (Aust.).

Mr. E. BATE, M.C., B.Sc., A.t0.I.E. (Aust.).

Director-General, Department of Works and Housing - Chairman.

Acting Director-General, Department of Post-War Reconstruction.

Chief Engineer, Department of Public Works, N.S.W.

Commissioner, Water Ccnservafion and.

Irrigation Commission, N.S.W.

Chairman, Electricity Authority of New South Wales.

Chairman, State Rivers and. Water Supply Commission, Victoria.

Chief Engineer,. Stafe Electricity Commission of Victoria.

Following Mr. Bate's departure for England in 1948 on business for his Commission, his place on the Committee was taken by-

. Mr. A. L. GALBRAITH, B.C.E., A.M.1.E. (Aust.), A.M.I.C.E., A.M.Am.Soc.C.E.

Civil Engineer, State Electricity Commission of Victoria.

5·

............... ----------------~-

~CAN8!RRA

N

I'.tlter StOf'ases ........

TullJl,eu; -- .

Diversion. to Tumut R ~

" Murrag R ~

Power Stations ,-

Iumut SCMme _

Murra!J Scheme. _

Racelines (Canals) _

45. ,04 ~

..... -_ ... -

rz

MilES

PLATE No, I.-Relief Plan of Snowy Mountains Area showing Hydro-Electric scheme.

6

DIVERSION AND UTILISATION OF THE

WATERS OF THE SNOWY RIVER

1. INTRODUCTlON

THE Commonwealth and State Snowy River Committee was appointed in 1947 as a result of discussions which had taken place between representatives of the Commonwealth Government and the Governments of the States of New South Wales and Victoria in 1946 and 1947 on proposals for the utilisation of the waters of the Snowy River, "and after a preliminary investigation had been made in 1946 by officers of the Commonwealth Departments of Works and Housing and of Post-War Reconstruction. Before this a New South Wales Committee of Engineers had in 1944 issued a comprehensive report dealing with a number of alternative proposals for the use of the Snowy River waters, and it" was this report that led to the discussions between the three Governments

concerned. .

The Committee appointed in 1947 comprised two officers nominated by each of the three Governments concerned, together with a third representative from New South Wales to advise on behalf of that State in connection with the more technical electrical power aspects.

The First Report issued by the Committee in November, 1948, was primarily to. give a comparison between alternative proposals for diverting the head waters of the Snowy River either to the Murray or the Murrumbidgee for the purpose of supplying irrigation water inland and of generating electric power. That Report recommended that neither of these alternatives originally referred to it be adopted, but that another alternative development, taking a substantial quantity of water from the Snowy, Munay and Murrumbidgee Rivers to the Tumut River should be proceeded with as soon as possible, and that further investigations should be carried out before a decision was made in regard to the use of the remainder of the Snowy River flow. The recommendations made in that Report were approved in February, 1949, by Ministers representing the Commonwealth and the States of New South Wales and Victoria, and at the same time the Committee was instructed: .to proceed with investigations and to make a further report on the use of the balance of. the Snowy waters, on the possible effect of the diversion on the lower reaches of that river, and of the distribution of the power which would be made available ·as a result of the whole of the Snowy development.

The Committee carried out these further investigations and in its Second Report, presented in June, 1949, made recommendations in regard to the matters referred to it, including a recommendation that the balance of the Snowy River waters should be taken into the Murray River. These recommendations were considered at a meeting of the Ministers concerned on the 13th July, 1949, and were approved. The Ministers at that meeting made some further decisions, the most important being in regard to the capacity of additional storage to be provided on the Upper Murray for a balancing storage for the diverted Snowy waters, and to give additional regulation of the Murray waters. It was also decided that the Committee should prepare a Draft Agreement between the Commonwealth and New South Wales and Victoria to incorporate the decisions of the Conference. The Conference of Ministers considered that the Committee as it existed would complete its functions with the drafting of the Agreement, but that an Advisory Committee of representatives of the Commonwealth and the two States should be established. The functions of this Committee would be to advise the Minister on the co-ordination of the development of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric scheme by the Authority with developments by the States for the use of the waters conserved and diverted under that scheme and for the transmission, distribution and use of the share of the electric power made available to the States, and to recommend on the interim division of power between the Commonwealth and the States, pending the completion of the whole scheme, in advance of each and every additional block of power becoming available.

With the completion of the preliminary investigation and the acceptance by the Ministers of its recommended scheme, the drafting of the Agreement and the establishment of the Advisory Committee, the functions of the original Technical Committee will terminate. Before disbanding as an Investigational Committee, however, it was considered that the earlier Reports should be consolidated, and the final scheme, as recommended, set out in greater detail; this has been done in the Report herewith.

Although it is recognised that the Report can give only a brief review of the work of the Committee, it is hoped that it will give a reasonably comprehensive and

7

effective picture, of the proposals which have been approved on the recommendation of the Committee, for the development of the Snowy Mountains area.

This Report includes a general description of the area, embracing the 'catchments of the 'Snowy and adjacent rivers; also an outline of the electricity systems and demands for power in the States of Victoria and New South Wales; as well as a brief account of existing irrigation works in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys and an indication of possible further developments.

Panorama of the Alpine scene under snow

Investigation work of the Committee is reviewed, with a summary of the data which it obtained, and an indication of the steps which led to the final recommendations. The Report includes a description' of the proposed developments which have now been approved and a short summary of the position of the investigation and design at the time of handing over to the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, a statutory body set up in 1949 by the Commonwealth to carry out the scheme.

2. GENERAL TOPOGRAP8Y

T HE mainland of Australia is part of a great plateau of Archean rocks, much of which has been above sea .Ievel throughout Palaeozoic and later times. Much of it has, as a result,: been reduced to a barren rocky peneplane without any prominent physical features.

There has been a .certain amount of building up of the continent on the edges of this pre-Cambrian core by a moderate folding, possibly resulting from adjacent ocean bed movements. The folding has been most pronounced along the East, on the Pacific coast, although in both South and Western Australia there are ranges of lesser importance more or less parallel to the coast. Associated with the folding along the Eastern coast (by which the Great Dividing Range was formed), there has' been a certain amount of volcanic activity, resulting in the formation of richer soils in parts of this region, but the greatest area of good soil country is situated in a broad belt stretching from Queensland to Victoria and lying to the West, or dry side.iof the Dividing Range.

With the main high lands close to and parallel to the coast, the highest rainfall is, as would be expected, in the coastal regions, and' most of the run-off occurs

in short steep rivers to the ocean. .

The precipitation inland is very light, but among the streams that do run inland are those which unite

to form the largest river system in the Commonwealth, namely, the Murray and its' tributaries, the Murrumbidgee,' Darling, Gou'lburn and other streams. ' By far the most extensive irrigation systems of the Commonwealth. are supplied from these rivers, but the water available, even with complete regulation, would not be sufficient to irrigate more than a small proportion of the total area of suitable land in their valleys.

From the power aspect, both the limited rainfall and the small areas at high elevations contribute to the comparatively low hydro-electric potential of the mainland. There are, however, some regions in the east coast ranges where a certain amount of water power can be economically generated; in Queensland in the northern region the heavy rainfall, which ranges up, to 200 inches, and the moderate heights - of from four to five thousand feet - make hydro generation possible, but the high lands areas are small and the power potential -is not really great. Another. area further south in the vicinity of the Clarence River in New South Wales has been under investigation for' some time" and it appears that it will probably furnish a considerable block of power. However, the greatest potential on the mainland of Australia is at the southern end of the east coast high lands, where the dividing

"

llustrates important topographical features.

range is known as the Australian Alps; here the conditions are much more favourable, as the mountains reach their maximum height of over 7,000 feet and the high country extends' over a greater area. The precipitation is good, much of it being in the form of snow, and the run-off period extends into the dry

summer months. In the investigations covered by this Report this area has been termed the Snowy Mountains Area, and, as it is here that the hydro-electric scheme is proposed, more details of it will be given in the following pages under the heading of "Description of Snowy Mountains Area." (Refer Plate No. 1.)

3. DESCRIPTION OF SNOWY MOUNTAINS AREA

SOME knowledge of the Snowy Mountains Are~ is necessary before the alternative proposals for the utilisation of the water 'available from the area and the work ·of- the Committee can be fully appreciated. A brief description is therefore given herewith.

The area embraces thesources of many streams, as is -shown in Plate No.2, and most of them flow "inland, There is one, however, named the Snowy Hiver, that rises in the highest .portion of the area, and receives the ,greatest portion of. the tun-off, from the snow country, which runs southward from New, South' Wales .through Victoria and discharges through well watered country into the southern seas. - It was the thought of the continuous waste of this river,' while inland areas could - not headequatel y developed through lack of water,' that led to various proposals £6rdiverting the Snowy inland.

- Although . originally interest was centred in the .water available from the Snowy River only, other 'catchments were brought under review as the work of investigation proceeded, and an area far greater than

, the Snowy Catchment has been included in the review.

There is no 'official name fOI: this larger district, but it has heen referred to as "The Snowy Mountains Area" in the investigational reports" and, this term is now being adopted for it. Plate 2 shows the area .referred to and portions of the adjoining country; the area concerned is situated in south-east New South Wales,

immediately adjoining the border of Victoria, into which it extends to some extent. The boundaries of the area are within '200 miles 6£ both Sydney and Melbourne, which are the main load centres of "the two States: .

The main mountain ranges, indicated by the 'thousand foot "form lines, on the central' part of the map,' are part of "the Great Dividing Range, which, runs down the eastern side of Australia (see Plate 1), mostly quite close to the coast, until it turns west across Victoria. The Snowy Mountains Area is, however; of far greater importance than any other part of 'the Divide, firstly on account of itsextent at an appreciable height, and secondly on account of ,the high precipitation which it receives. The highest mountain in Australia; Mount Kosciusko -7,316 feet in height - is at the head of the Snowy Catchment, and there are several other peaks over 7,000 feet, surroundedhy more than -40 square miles .of country above 6,000 feetvin height. To" the west of the area the ground falls away very quickly and it -is .rough, rugged and difficult of access, but to the east the faU is much more gradual. To the north the level of the ridge drops fairly steadily, but is still about 4,350 feet at the crossing of the Monaro Highway at Rule's Point. The central area, rising sharply on the west escarpment, presents a cold barrier to the prevailing winds, and causes the relatively high precipitation of rain and snow; it is estimated that on the highest points the total precipitation is over 120 inches, per annum.

9

KlANDRA (4,606 ft.), Australia's highest town, is in the heart of the snow country of the Australian Alps.

To the east the precipitation intensity falls away rapidly; official rainfall figures give 89 inches at the Chalet at Charlotte Pass, 3! miles east of the highest points of the Divide, 48 inches at the Hotel Kosciusko, about 7 miles from the Divide, and only 21 inches at Jindabyne, some 16 miles from the Divide.

It will be seen from the Plate No.2 that the following rivers rise in the Snowy Mountains Area: the Snowy, the Murrumbidgee, Tumut, Tooma, Swampy Plains and Murray (Indi Branch); the last three form the headwaters of the Murray River. The Murrumbidgee, although flowing south-east for many miles, ultimately turns north and then west, and falls with a comparatively even gradient, while the Snowy, as mentioned previously, is the only one of these rivers which does not flow inland, and it finds its way to the sea through the eastern part of Victoria.

The whole of this mountainous area is served by very few roads, as shown on the map, and these are mainly to . serve an area around Kosciusko reserved as a National Park. Nearly all the remainder of this mountainous area is leased for summer pasture, and is accessible by stock tracks only. There are Snow Lease Plans of nearly all the area at a scale of H miles to the inch, and on them the main ridges and creeks have been sketched in and. some spot-barometric levels given.

Plate No.3 gives an indication of the power potential of the Snowy Mountains Area: as neither the levels nor the distribution of run-off are yet fully known, the diagrams should be accepted as approximations only. Nevertheless the chart gives a clear indication of the enormous power potential of the area, and of the districts where development would be most favourable. The potential is based upon a drop to the thousand foot level being available and, actually, there are three points neat to the Area where the country falls to such a level. These are the Swampy Plains Valley near Khancoban, the Tooma Valley above Possum Point, and the Tumut Valley above Blowering.

. The potential unit taken for the plan (Plate No.3) is based on 1,000 foot drop with one foot per annum average run-off. It will be noted that a maximum of 60 units is indicated for the area, and that approximately 95 square miles have a potential of over 30 and some 740 square miles have a potential of over 10. With the exception of the Kiewa area in Victoria, which is now being developed, and which will have a maximum firm capacity of about 260,000 kW., and possibly the Upper Clarence region in New South Wales, there are few places where a potential as high as 10 can be found in Australia, and even these are over comparatively small areas.

10

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4. EXISTING ELEC.TRICITY SYSTEMS WALES AND VICTORIA

IN NEW SOUTH WALES, although the high waterpower potential areas of the Snowy Mountains and the lesser ones on the Clarence River are situated in the State, these sources have not been developed owing to the occurrence of good, comparatively easily. won coal close to the areas first settled. Sydney, with its population of over 1,500,000, is situated near the centre of a rich coalfield, with reserves for many years, which extends in an arc from the coast north of Newcastle to Lithgow in the west, and back to the coast at Port Kembla in the south. Other coalfields exist in the State, but these are of lesser extent, although the field in the Central

North is gaining in importance. "

With such excellent port facilities at Sydney and with coal available in the district, it was natural that

NEW SOUTH

industries should spring up in the area, and that coal should be developed early for power generation, particularly as the sources of hydro po.wer were in remote regions and not simple to develop. With the growth of population and of industry, the call for increased electric power has been met almost entirely by additional black coal steam-generating stations, these" being located mainly in the Sydney, Newcastle, Port Kembla and Lithgow districts, although there have been a few minor hydro-electric developments which have proved of considerable local value.

Particulars of the main generating stations are given in the following table, while the location of them is indicated in Plate No.4.

Station

Kilowatts
Location Type Capacity
Installed
Sydney Steam 325,000
Sydney Steam 48,000
Sydney . . Steam 117,000
Sydney Steam 70,000
Newcastle Steam 80,0.00
Lithgow .. · . Steam 15,000
Sydney .. · . Steam 48,000
Port Kembla Steam 28,000
Yanco " Steam 4,000
Canberra .. Steam 3,000
Cowra .. · . Steam 4,500
near Cowra Hydro 7,500
near Yass .. Hydro .. 20,000
Tamworth .. Steam .. 16,300
near Grafton Hydro .. 4,800
Lismore .. .. Diesel ., 4,500
Various .. .. .. Various, mainly diesel 25,000 " (a) Interconnected Systems.

Bunnerong .

Pyrmont .

White Bay .. " .. Ultimo, 25 cycle .. Zara Street

Lithgow .

Balmain ' ..

Port Kembla .. " .. Yanco .... Canberra.. .. Cowra .: .... Wyangala " ., Burrinjuck .. .. ..

tb) Independent Systems.

Tamworth .

Nymboida , ..

Lismore .

Small local plants (52

undertakings) . " ..

TOTAL

820,600

NOTE:-The table does "not include several plants installed in collieries, etc., which give a small amount of electricity to the public.

The total installed capacity as shown in the table is about 820,000 kW. but, owing to the lag in installation caused by the war, "this is scarcely sufficient to" meet present demands. "It is estimated that the demand will increase by about 720,000 kW. in the next 10 years which, with the present lag of about. 225,000 kW., the normal provision of spare plant and the retirement of worn- out" units, will call for the provision of an additional 1,280,000 kW. of power plant within about 10 years. Approvals "have already been given, towards this, for the installation of an additional 740,000 kW.,

II

and the provision of some of this has now reached an

advanced stage. "

The main power stations are all interconnected by a high voltage transmission system; in the Sydney area this is done mainly by 33,000 volt cables, while the more distant stations are linked by 66,000 volt overhead

" lines, except in the case of the 132,000 volt transmission line over the 145 miles between the hydro station at Burrinjuck and the steam station at Port Kembla. At Goulburn, at about the mid point of this last interconnection,a major switching station is located, from which transmission lines radiate into the rural areas.

A" very extensive network of high voltage transmission lines has been built 'up, extending electricity supply from the generating stations of 'the inter-connected system to towns throughout the State. This system is continually being extended to' more remote areas, most of which are served at present by oil-engine generating stations.

In the next few years extensive additions to the transmission system are to be constructed at 132,000 V., resulting in an inter-connected system at this voltage from Newcastle in the-north, Port Kemhla in the south, and Lithgow in the west, and extending to the Victorian border for the new hydro-electric station to be installed at the Hume Weir on the Murray. Plans have now been approved for a new circuit from Newcastle as far north as the Manning River at Taree. The'132 kV. system will call for the construction of two major switching stations in the Sydney area at Carlingford and Homebush.

The accompanying map (Plate No.4) shows in detail the extent of the existing transmission systems.

Over 95 per cent. of the electricity consumed in public supply systems in New South Wales, and this includes traction, is generated in power stations owned and operated by four (4) bodies, two of which are Covernment Departments, viz., The Department of Railways and the Department of Public Works; the third, a Local Government Body (The Sydney County Council), and fourth a private company (The Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation). The control of Distribution and Disposal of power is largely in the hands of Local Government Bodies which, unless generating themselves, buy in bulk' from the main generating authorities. In the smaller, more isolated areas, the supply authorities generate their own power, normally . using diesel generating sets. For the whole State, there are 157 different bodies distributing electricity, and most of them are Local Government Bodies, as is seen from the following data:-

Millions kWh. sold.

No. 1948/49.

Municipalities .and Cities 64 564

Shires " .. .. " .. 40 134

County Councils .. .. .. 17 1,221

Government Undertakings 3 108

Franchise Holders .. .. 33 184

Under the Electricity' Development Act, 1945-48, the Electricity Authority of New South Wales was constituted to promote. co-ordination and control of the development and improvement of electricity supply throughout the State.

The distribution voltages in New South Wales are largely dependent on the size of the undertaking, the most common voltage used being 11,000, while the nominal voltage at the terminals of 98 per cent. of the customers is 240! 415 V. at 50 cycles.

The total electricity generated for public supply and traction purposes during the year 1948/49 was 3,152,800,000 kWh., and the total amount sold 2,683,183,000, composed' of the following categories-

kWh. 839,367,000 200,552,000

Domestic .. Commercial

Typical snow country of the Australian Alps.

r

I

!!

Industrial

Traction ..

Public Lighting Miscellaneous, Unclassified

940,974,000 470,874,000 43,771,000 187,645,000

IN VICTORIA, the conditions are very different from those in New South Wales: Deposits of black coal are very limited and of a comparatively poor quality, while brown coal is plentiful in thick beds at a shallow depth and distances to sources of hydro-electric power are not so great. As a result, brown coal is mainly used as the fuel for the steam generating stations and hydroelectric generation plays, or will play, a' much more important part than in New South Wales. Omitting the

. smaller diesel generating stations, the' three main sources of power, each with its own characteristics, are:-

(1) Steam Plants, located at one of the brown coalfields, and utilising cheap low-grade fuel 'with a calorific value of about 3,000 B.T.U. per lb.

(2) . Steam Plants, located near load centres, and utilising higher grade and more costly fuels, such as briquetted brown coal from the local fields or imported black coal and some fuel oil.

(3) Hydro-electric Plants, adjacent to the Victorian . Highlands, and remote from main load centres.

With plant of the first type, which has a high capital cost, but which utilises low cost fuel, it is economical to operate at a high load factor, while plant in the second category is, on account of' its high running cost, operated to meet the demands of the upper part of the load curve; i.e., at a low load factor. With these two conditions, the hydro-electric installations in Victoria are designed so that in an average year they fill the intermediate portion of the load curve to give the best economic' balance, and thus operate at a load factor somewhat lower than that for the full system. In dry years, the hydro plant «an operate at full rate of

II :1 I

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~GUNNEDAI-I "COONA6ARABRA (

URA~Lf TAMWORTHKEM "

NEW SOUTH WAl,..ES

o BROKEN HILL

NARROMINEO

LEGEND

TRAN SMISSION LINES -_'-- 66000 VOLTS AND OVER

OVER 22000-AND UNDER 66000 VOLTS 22000 VOLTS AND LOWER

o . POWER STATIONS -THERMAL

• -HYDRO.

N

SC.l.LE OF MILES

ijl!030 ... 0 ee 70 PJl90ylDO

MOUNTAINS PROPOSALS

FINAL REPORT BYCOMMONWEALTH· ANf)INTERSTATE COMMITTEE

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY SYSTEMS NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA

PLATE N94

. ~ 'L.OCIJ ..:J. ~

~ \'500.000

~

D

X ~ \,QOq

¥CO.

500 400,

000 "
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7
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.;:>0-/ .
/
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iC7 7
7 ~ ~
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7 ..... <r~.
7 _ .. C 1'7
)7 .o..Y
000 / ~IV
/ .7
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/ ~ I'-N'T1C\PATE.O POWe:.R REQU\REMENT
.., MA)(.. DEMAND p..S~UM\NG ~()
,000 /' UNFORSEEN E.X?ANS\ON; .
OOO~ . I _ I T T i ~

- -

ICI 0

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f. 50

. YEAR.

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PE'RCENTAGE. OF TIME.' THA,

"-0,..,0 . \5 EOUA\..\.-EO OR. E)(.c..EE.DEO.

5NJWY MOUNTAlNS PROPOSALS F//\J4L REPORT

BY C0l"1l'10NJ1IEALTH

AND INTERS7:A.7E" CONN/TTEE

ASSUMED· POWER -LOAD DATA.

PLATE N~5

\00

I I
" ANNUAL LOAO
--, DURATlON- C.UR"£ •
""-.
~~
-,
<, r--......_
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" capacity only for peak hours and its load .factor, therefore, has to be reduced to conform to water availability; in such years the more costly-operated steam plants at load centres must be operated over greater periods, and thus at higher load factors. Conversely, in .years with rainfall above the average, the hydro plants can produce a greater number of kilowatt-hours, with resulting saving

in fuel costs at metropolitan steam stations. .

There are some plants under Categories (1) and (3) in which electricity is generated really as a by-product; in the briquetting factories some generating" units are operated by the drop in steam pressure between the boiler pressures and those needed for thebriquetting processes. Also, where hydro plant is installed at

. irzigational storages, power is produced when water is being released for irrigation, which is usually only during the drier months of the year.

Yallourn Power Station on the Latrobe Valley Brown Coal Field, about 80 miles east of Melbourne, is the main base load Station in the State Electricity Commission system, though, at the present time, Newport Power Station, a Type 2 Station at the mouth of the Yarra River in the Metropolitan area, has' a somewhat greater capacity of installed plant. In the near future, however, Newport will drop greatly in relative importance, as is shown in .the following table of the S.E.C.'s generating installations; the locations of these Power Stations are indicated on Plate No.4.

Capacity Proposed
Type Name of Station in 1950 Capacity
kW. kW.
1 Yallourn .Power Station 175,000 400,000 +
la Yallourn Briquette Factory ... 10,000 12,000
la Morwell Briquette Factory .. 60,000
'1 Newport -Power Station (Melbourne Area) 198,000 198,000
2 Richmond Power Station (Melbourne Area) 15,000 . 58,000
2 Spencer Street Power Station (Melbourne
City Council) . . .. . . . . . . 37,000 89,000
2 Geelong Power Station .. 11,000 11,000
2 Ballarat Power Station .. .. 6,000 6,000
2 Shepparton Power Station. (Diesel) 5,000
2 Warrnambool Power Station (Diesel) 5,000
3 Kiewa Scheme .. . . .. 26,000 289,000
3 Rubicon Scheme 13,000 13,000
3a Sugarloaf Power Station 13,000 100,000 (?)
504,000 1,246;000 This list does not take account of some small plants, such as those at Mildura and Hamilton, which are not connected to the general transmission system.

In addition to .the 50'!,000 kW. that will be available in 1950, plant for a further 400,000 kW. is in course of "installation or on order. Of . the balance' to give the figures in column 4, oiz., an additional 342,000 kW., all except the contribution from the new Eildon Weir will probably be available by 1957.

The Victorian transmission system, shown on Plate No.4.,. interconnects the various main generating stations and conveys power to demand centres, at which it is stepped down for distribution. The main channel is from Yallourn, and consists of four circuits of 132,000 volts carried on steel towers to transmit power to Melbourne, which absorbs about 75 per cent. of the total amount of power. sold from the S;E.C. system. In the Melbourne area the several terminal stations and the metropolitan generating stations are interconnected at 66,000 volts,

A number-of other main lines operate at 66,000 volts, and included with these is the line from the one power .station now operating at Kiewa and which feeds into the North-Eastern District 66,900 V. system. When other stations of the Kiewa group come into operation they will transmit power by a direct 220,000 V. line 158 miles long to, Melbourne, connecting to Sugarloaf Power Station en route.

'.-,

The high. tension distribution system in general operates at 22;000 volts, stepping down to 230/400 volts . for. the low-tension network. In the Melbourne area and some other closely populated sections, an intermediate voltage vof 6,600 volts -is used to a considerable but lessening extent.

. Abo.ut83. per. cent.: of the homes in Victoria are supplied with electricity. and over 98 per cent. of the .total· consumption is furnished by the generating .·plants of the .State . Electricity Commission, (Spencer Street Power Station .of the Melbourne CityCouncil operates. by arrangement, as part of the S,E.C.· system) which is the main generating and -supplyeuthoritydn Victoria.

.. Ahout·70 per cent. of the electricity is sold direct to consumers .by this Authority, most of the 'balance being sold in bulk to certain metropolitan Municipalities which retail within their own boundaries: 'I'he Electricity Commission' also sells power in' bulk to. several 'Municipalities on the New South Wales side of the Murray River,

For the' year ending 30th June, 1949, the maximum co-incident demand on the S.E.C. generating plants was 437,000 kW., but this would have been greater (the total installed capacity being 480,000 kW.), but for the restrictions imposed to prevent over-loading. For the same period the .·kilowatt-hours generated totalled 2,148,000,000 - giving an annual system load' factor of 56 per cent. .

13

,wise there will be a risk of grave loss in ultimate economy. The water schemes can generate only part of the' requirements, and the balance must be provided by steam-generating stations. Under conditions existing on the mainland of Australia, hydro-electric plant can be used with greatest economic advantage when it is operated in conjunction with thermal plant, and there is, for any particular system a definite ratio, between capacities of hydro-electric and steam plant for such combined operation, which gives the lowest overall costs. For any given river development, if too little hydroelectric plant is installed, it will be unable to take its full economic share of the peak loads, and it will be necessary to instal more steam plant than would otherwise have been required. If too much hydro-electric plant and head works are installed there will not be sufficient water to utilise their capacity in low water periods, and capital expenditure will have been wasted. The economic proportion of hydro-electric plant to steam

5. POWER ASPECTS

, THE physical features and meteorological conditions of Australia as a whole are not conducive to the development of large amounts of hydro-electric power. In addition to this, the country is poorly endowed for its size with the other main sources of power; namely, oil and coal. To date no appreciable amount of oil has been discovered, and the geology of most of the Commonwealth does not appear favourable to the location of any large oil pools. The deposits of black coal are limited, the better quality being confined to parts of New South Wales and Queensland, while comparatively small deposits of lower grade black coal occur in Tasmania, Western Australia and Victoria. Brown coal or lignite, however, which has the low calorific value of about 3,000 B.T.U. per lb. (refer Section 4) occurs in thick lacustrine deposits in Victoria, while smaller beds are found in South Australia.

The power developments to date mostly depend on local coals, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia using their black coals, and Victoria its brown. South Australia now depends on imported black coal but is, at present, developing the brown coal deposits near Leigh Creek. Tasmania is the one State well endowed with potential water power, of which about 10 per cent. only of what is now economical to produce has been developed, This 10 per cent., however, corresponds to about 18(},000 kW., and is roughly two-thirds of the whole of the present hydro-electric development in Australia, which itself amounts to about one-sixth of, the total power now produced in the continent.

At the present time, the developed power available in, Australia is only about one-quarter kW. per person (compared with, say, Canada, with approximately 1 kW, per head), and this must increase considerably if the country is to be self-dependent. The power demand in all States is increasing very rapidly; and in this respect Plate No.5 showsthe estimated growth of load in New South Wales and Victoria, based on normal development and without allowance for abnormal expansion in industrialisation or any' great influx of immigrants.

The Second World War resulted in a lag in power plant installation, so that at the present time efforts 'are being made not only to make up for this lag, but also to meet the continued increase in demand. This augmenting of power installations is largely in steam generating stations, and therefore can become effective only if the additional fuel necessary is made available, and herein lies the main problem. Coal mining is a specialist and not very popular occupation, and even with increased mechanisation of mines, it is difficult to expand the present output quickly. ,

The provision of large blocks of hydro power is, therefore, of particular importance, if only because of the additional power being made available without any further call on coal. The saving in the latter resulting from the. complete Snowy Mountains. Development will amount to some four millions of tons of coal annually. It must be remembered, however, that under Australian conditions the development of steam-generated and water-generated power must go hand in hand, or other-

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u 14,

POWER AVAILABLE fROM SNOWY MOUNTAINS COMPARED WITH EXISTING

DEVELOPME NT S_

Snowy~River at high level neal' Jindabyne, April, 1950.

plant varies according to circumstances; in the investigations that have been made into the alternative methods of developing the Snowy Mountains Area there was insufficient data to calculate accurately what it should be and a ratio was assumed, in the comparison, of 30 per cent. firm hydro power to 70 per cent. thermal plant capacity. These figures were based on the work done in the Victorian 'investigations for the hydro-electric developments at Kiewa, but the percentages will vary with circumstances, and the 30·70 ratio may have to be departed from in the New South Wales·Victoria system as the Snowy development proceeds.

With the Snowy development, maximum economy can be achieved by operation of the hydro plant in conjunction with steam plant which is already installed in New South Wales end Victoria, and which will be extended continuously as the load on the two systems increases. It is necessary, however, for both New South Wales and Victoria to ensurethat an appropriate amount of steam plant is installed in relation to the total amount of hydro-electric power available to each State, from' the Snowy River Development, and from other

,hydro-electric sources in: the two States. _

From the investigations made, it appears more economical to operate the Snowy power stations at relatively low load factors; that is, they should be of the nature of peak load plants. The extra steam plant required in the two States would be more for the base load; i.e., the plant would have to operate at a com.paratively high load factor. In Victoria, therefore, this would mean an extension in brown coal generating stations, while in New South Wales additional black coal steam stations would be required.

Plate No. 5 gives the shape of the type of load duration curve assumed, for the combined systems of New South Wales and Victoria in the Snowy Investigations, and it was on monthly load duration curves of this type that the capacities and load factors given in Section 10 were based. - With the present estimated increase in demand and the assumed shape of the load-duration curve the power indicated in Section 10 can ultimately be economically absorbed, although possibly not at the 30·70 ratio.' It is quite likely that the shape of the lead-duration curve will alter, and that some of the hydro stations may have to operate at very different load factors from those now proposed; this will affect the economics of the proposals to some extent, as the total capacity will he affected, hut, in any case, approximately the same number of units will be generated from more or less hydro plant, depending on whether a lower or higher load factor is finally adopted for any of the

power stations. '

With a 30-70 proportion of hydro to steam-generated power, it is obvious from the assumed load-duration curve that, if the whole of the upper 30 'per cent. of the load were to be jaken by the hydro plant the latter could operate at a very low load factor. If then, the load-duration curve retains the form shown, as the demand increases, it may be economical to increase the installed hydro capacity, although this would necessitate additional demand storage, so that it can meet a larger proportion of the maximum demand. On the other hand, the Victorian requirements, for which the hydro supply is to fill the upper intermediate portion of the curve, may result in a slight increase of the overall load factor of the Snowy Schemes. It is obvious that in the

15

'earlier years of the' Snowy Power Stations they will be used to the best advantage possible under the conditions prevailing, and will probably be operated at lower capacity but higher load factors than in the ultimate development.Th~re are, of course, many factors to consider in deciding on the best relative usage of the two methods of generation, and the whole necessitates a rather .involvedstuuy. particularly regarding fuel supply for steam stations.

The programming of the construction of the new Snowy Power Stations will need to fit in with the continuous development of the load-duration curves for the two States and so obtain the most economical results. The first outputs from the Snowy hydro stations will probably be required to meet the peak loads in .New South Wales, while the early supplies to Victoria may be' needed on a higher load factor to give the most economical operation with the existing Victorian system, which, by that time, will have the full Kiewa hydro development linked in.

The capacities given for the various Snowy Power Stations' are firm; i.e.; the power stated will be available at any time even in extreme droughts and at the load factors necessary to meet the power demand requirements of the upper, portion of the combined load duration curve, Further, in most years there will be water available to permit operation at a higher load factor; that is, for a longer period and this accounts for the higher average load factors quoted with the power figures. The operation of the hydro plants' at the higher load factor would mean that a corresponding amount of steam generators can be kept out of operation, thus making a saving in fuel. This method of operation,

however, is likely to cause a difficult problem; if, after a number of wet years, there ariF a number of dry seasons, necessitating the operation of the hydro stations at a lower load factor than usual, additional output of power will be required from the thermal stations, and this, of course, means additional 'fuel. . Unless stocks are held, and the formation and retention of them would

. be itself a serious problem, the output of fuel must be at the time increased to meet the power demand .. This possible fluctuation in the requirement of coal, as the main fuel likely, provides a problem which of itself calls for careful study. If fuel oil should become more plentiful from supplies -in New .Cuinea or elsewhere close to Australia, the solution would not be so difficult. but it would render the country's source of power more vulnerable still in times of war. At the present time, with the bulk of our power dependent on steamgenerating stations, our supply is particularly unstable and vulnerable. Any industrial trouble affecting coal. mining, transport or general heavy engineering is liable to interfere with production while, in times of war, steam stations, mainly located on the sea-coast, are very obvious targets for attack. In the case of hydro. generation, On the other hand, in which the schemes are usually designed on lather conservative assumptions, there is little in a country such as this, with comparatively mild temperatures, to interfere with the output. ,As a rule also, hydro power stations are difficult to locate from the air, being situated in hilly country away from large centres of population. This applies to the Snowy proposals particularly, and in this scheme also the power stations are well dispersed and the main ones located underground.:

6 .. EXISTING IRRIGATION 'SYSTEMS IN.

MURRUMBIDGEE- AND . MURRA'Y .V ALtEY.S

THE'main areas in New South Wales which could b~nefit from the additional water made available in the Murrumbidgee . and ' the 'Murray Rivers by the Snowy Mountains Scheme, are those lying .between the two ,rivers,· west of a line running' north from the Hume Dam on the Murray to Mundowy Weir on the Murrumbidgee, to their confluence near Balranald, together with those extending a distance of about 25 miles north from the Murrwnbidgee and west of Narrandera, stretching as far as the Lachlan Hiver, There are, however, further small areas lower down the Murray near Wentworth, as shown in Plate No.6.

The areas are all of low rainfall, with an average precipitation varying from about 20 inches in the -eastern part to from 10 inches to 11 inches in the west. The summers are hot and dry, . while the winters are usually cold and dry, with frosts occurring over the whole area.

The soils are practically wholly alluvial, being formed from the river system running west from the

high lands, ,ndw much et oded, to the east of the area. As would be expected from the method of formation the coarser, more permeable eoils occur in the east of this area, while they become very fine in the west, forming heavy; .intractable .~clays.. A division between the more loamy red. brown ·earths on: the east and the grey and brown'soils, runsroughiy from Leeton along the Yanko Creektowards Ierilderie and Deniliquin, and

then south to Echuca. .

The red brown earths. forming a ··very great part of the successfulvirrigation settlements in Victoria and New South Wales occur in: two fairly well' defm~d manners, depending' on .their . distance from the old carrying streams during their 'deposition: the coarser, heavier constituents, b"t'!ng, the deposit close to the streams, form the Channel deposits', which, with irrigation, are capable of high production, While the finer materials form the ,intel'mediate plains, which were probably' deposited under lacustrine or' semi-lacustrine conditions,

16

The fine grained Grey and Brown Soils to the west are probably largely of lacustrine origin, and are frequently high in gypsum and salt content. Where, however, they were formed along the banks of the streams, as in the Deniboota, Wakool and Denimein District, they are low in lime and salt and are generally of high fertility.

Although the Red Brown Earth type of country is generally the more profitable to irrigate, some of the most successful developments in New South Wales have been in the heavier soils in the Leeton-Griffith area.

Here the development in-the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas, as this District is called, in which 390,000 acres have been irrigated, raises over £3,000,000 worth of produce annually, mainly of fruit, rice and other cereals, although dairy products, vegetables, wool and sheep are also of considerable importance. The water distribution to these Areas also benefits over 700,000 acres of the Irrigation District of Benerembah, Tabbita and Wah-Wah, the water being used mainly for rice and other cereals, and for annual self-seeding pastures, as well as for domestic and stock water supplies.

Further downstream, on the Murrumbidgee, is situated the Hay Irrigation Area, which is only about 7,000 acres in extent where, during the year ending 30th June, 1949, some 4,200 acre feet of water was used, mainly in the production of butter, milk and fat lambs.

Further west is a new project, theLowhidgee Flooding Control and Irrigation District, with headquarters at Balranald. Although works are not completed in this area, they are advanced sufficiently to permit lands within it to benefit from controlled flooding of grazing country by the operation of Maude and Redbank Weirs. Of the 375,000 acres in the district, approximately onethird can be artificially flooded.

The Water Trust of Yanko, Colombo and Billabong Creeks is also served from the Murrumbidgee River, water being diverted for the purpose at Yanko Creek Weir. The area of the Trust District is over 1,000,000 acres, but the use of water in this case is mainly for stock supplies to holdings which include some of the large Merino studs of New South Wales.

In the Murray Valley, from a diversion weir at Yarrawonga, the Mulwala Canal of 2,500 cusecs capacity, provides water for the major development from the Murray in New South Wales, this being for the two Irrigation Districts of Berriquin and Wakool. These two Districts together comprise 1,130,000 acres. and contain a thousand holdings, which produce fat lambs, wool and cereals as their chief products, although in the 1948/49 season 3,000 acres of .rice was also grown in Wakool, as a temporary measure to condition the soil for eventual establishment of pastures.

The adjacent Irrigatiou District of Denimein is now being developed, and, as construction proceeds, additionalholdings are being provided with water.

As well as these Districts, there are a number of Irrigation Areas, which are much smaller in extent, but some - TullakooI, Curlwaa and Coomealla - are relatively important. Tullakool is of 16,600 acres extent, some of which is usedfor rice growing, while in

, Cuilwaa and Coomeallacitrus and vine fruits are the main products, the value of them for the 1948/49 crop being approximately £327,000.

1"

There are also five Water Trusts, serving an ~rea of 331,000 acres with Domestic and Stock Water$\tpply, and five Irrigation Trusts, dealing with an additional

14,000 acres. ::

In the last returns available, uiz., for the 1~48/49 year, the total quantity of water diverted for all ;irrigational, domestic and stock supply purposes amounted to approximately 827,000 acre feet, of which 277,000 was diverted from the Murray and 550,000 from the Murrumbidgee.

An appreciable use of water from both the Murrum. bidgee and the 'Murray Rivers, additional to the foregoing, is made under licences. giving land owners the right to appropriate water for irrigation and stock purposes. At present there are nearly 400 such licences extant on the Murrumbidgee and Yanko Creek Systems, serving over 40,000 ac;res, and 440 on the Murray and Edward River. Systems, for about 43,000 acres, these areas being for the irrigated lands only, no record being available of the stock areas served.

The developments given in the foregoing do not absorb all the controlled water now available to New South Wales from the Murray, and works already well in hand will extend the irrigation system to the Deniboota Irrigation District. Also domestic and stock water supplies are to be given to an area of approximately 88,000 acres in the Barramein Domestic and Stock Water Supply District by an extension of the Denimein District Works. In addition, the boundaries of' the Berriquin District are being extended from time to time to include adjacent suitable lands within. that District which can be supplied by minor extensions of its Works.

Although Victoria is not concerned with the Murrumbidgee Area, the Victorian portion of the Murray Valley, i.e., that section of the State north of the Dividing Range, comprises roughly half of the State's area of 87,884 square miles. Most of the Victorian Murray Basin is below the 600 feet contour and a third of it is less than 300 feet. The rainfall throughout the greater part of this area varies, as in the corresponding area in New South Wales, from 10 to 20 inches, and there is no appreciable natural run-off in normal years except close to the Dividing Range, where in some parts the a~erage

annual rainfall rises as high as 60 inches. ,.

The Murray Basin on the Victorian side of the river . is largely alluvial, its recent geological formation being caused by persistent flooding by the river system. In the Goulburn Valley portion, the soils are slightly acidic

_. and consist of Red Brown Earth which generally has a high natural fertility. To the west are the heavier Grey and Brown soils of the Loddon Valley which merge into the typical Mallee Red Brown Sands and Sandy Loams in the north-west of the State.

Suinmer temperatures throughout the Victorian Murray Valley are high - the average maximum daily temperature for January being from 85 to 90°F. Generally speaking, the temperature conditions are warmer and the weather less variable than in the coastal regions south -of the Dividing Range.

At a very early stage in the history of land settlement in Victoria, it was realised that water supply would be the limiting factor in development,. and legislation. to provide for water conservation on a large scale was introduced in the early '80's. The Water Conservation

17

Act of 1881 was followed by the epoch-making Irrigation Act of 1886, which marked a new era in the history of water supply legislation. This pioneer revolutionary Act vested in the Crown the right to use the water in any stream, lake or swamp, provided that no riparian rights could he established in the future that might prevent the use of water for irrigation, authorised the construction of national works by the State, and enabled directly elected Trusts to carry out their schemes with money advanced by the Government.

This legislation resulted in great activity in water works development, but, as the local Trusts were not capable of carrying out major works; the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission was set up, and it took over, in 1906, the works initiated by the various Trusts.

Under this State Authority there has been a very great expansion and large areas, even in the MalIee, have heen transformed. The largest irrigation system in Victoria, the "Goulhurn," covers a total area of 1,250,000 acres, of which 364,000 acres were irrigated in 1949. Its. main storages are the Eildon Reservoir of 306,000 acre feet on the Upper Goulburn River, and the Waranga Basin in North Central Victoria, with a capacity of 333,400 acre feet, together with a diversion weir on the Goulhurn River in the vicinity of N agamhie. The districts irrigated from the Goulburn System are Katandra, North Shepparton, Shepparton, South Shepparton, Rodney, Tongala, Stanhope, Rochester, Dingee, Calivil, Tragowel Plains, Deakin and Boort.

On the River Murray itself is the Victorian "Murray Valley" irrigation district, covering a total area of 270,000 acres, 100,000 acres of which will he annually irrigated in the near future from the Yarrawonga Weir through the main canal, which has a designed ultimate capacity of 1,250 cusecs, Further downstream is the

. Torrumharry System, the water. for which is diverted from the River Murray by means of the Torrumbarrv Weir, and a diversion channel with a capacity of 1,500 cusecs, . the. total. area of the district supplied being

Snow country of the Main Range of the Australian Alps.

370,000 acres, of which 170,000 acres were irrigated in 1949.

The Torrumbarry System supplies water by gravitation to Cohuna, Koondrook, Swan Hill, Woorinen, Third Lake, Mystic Park, Tresco, Fish Point and Kerang.

Further downstream the dried fruit and citrus settlements of Nyah, Robinvale, Red Cliffs, Mildura and Merbein are irrigated by means of large pumping plants established on the Murray itself. These dried fruit districts have a total area of 92,000 acres, of which 39,000 acres are irrigated.

The types of channels throughout the gravitational areas of the Goulhurn, Murray Valley and Torrumharrv are mainly open earthen channels, whilst in the pumping districts of Nyah, Red Cliffs, Mildura and Merhein, the channels which are smaller are chiefly concrete lined. In the new Soldier Settlement at Rohinvale, however, use is being made of underground pipe distributaries leading from open main channels.

The method . of irrigation used in the Victorian gravitation areas is largely the border or check system, in which the water is diverted from the distributary channels to the farmer's head ditch, and then irrigated over the land within bays about half a chain wide and six to seven chains long.

The average quantity of water used for the irrigation of cereals, lucerne, and pastures is about 12 inches per year, which does vary in some cases up to 24 inches. Orchards and vines are 'irrigated by the furrow method, the requirements for deciduous trees being 15 to 18 inches per year, whilst citrus requires a somewhat larger quantity. The irrigation requirement of Vines is about

three feet per year. .

The chief crops in the gravitational systems are mixed pastures, lucerne and other fodder crops and cereals, together with deciduous fruits, chiefly apricots, peaches and pears. The main primary industries of the irrigation areas of the Goulburn, Murray Valley and Torrumbarry are dairying; sheep raising and fat Iambs. COll·

;1

siderable quantities of deciduous fruit are canned for horne consumption and export.

The chief products of the areas supplied by pumpiuz from the Murray in Victoria are dried vine fruits, such as sultanas, currants and raisins, together with grapes for the production of wine. Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit and mandarins, are also grown in those districts.

In the year 1948/49 Victoria diverted from the Murray and its tributaries approximately 1,654,000 acre feet, of which 772,000 acre feet was from the Murray itself, the' greater part of the balance being from the Goulburn River.

The water was used to serve 25 .irrigation districts having a total area of some 2,000,000 acres, of which 680,000 .acres was actually irrigated during the year.

Within these districts there are 28 towns and townships with reticulated water supplies. The population of the irrigated portion of the Murray Basin totals 85,500 persons, of whom 34,500 live on the farms and orchards and 51,000 in the urban areas.

The total capital cost of the development of the Victorian Irrigation Areas supplied from the Murray or its tributaries is about £16,500,000, whilst the area produces food and other primary products worth almost this amount every year.

Seventy-seven per cent. of the irrigated lands in Victoria are producing pastures and fodder crops for dairying, for sheep, or for beef cattle, eleven per cent. is under fruit trees or vines, and the remaining twelve per cent. is being used for cereals and vegetables.

The nature and value of the produce last year are estimated as indicated below:-

VALUE OF PRODUCTION FROM VICTORIAN IRRIGATION DISTRICTS IN MURRAY ·BASIN.

Dairying " .. .. .. ., £3,500,000

Beef .. .. .. " .. .. .. 250,000

Pigs ., .. . _ ,:. .. .. .. 420,000

Lambs, wool and mutton 3,150,000

Poultry and eggs .. .. 650,000

Dried vine fruit .. .. 3,200,000

Table and wine grapes . . 160,000

Canning fruit ., .. 850,000

Fresh and jam fruit 700,000

Citrus .. .. ., 620,000

Vegetables .. 850,000

Miscellaneous ., 650,000

£15,000,000

The great success of the existing irrigation works has shown the value and need for further conservation and distribution of water for domestic, stock and irrigation purposes throughout Victoria, and a considerable expansion is being planned to double the area irrigated in the State; construction is well advanced on a 120,000 acre feet storage on the Loddon River at Cairn Curran, while tenders are now being called for the enlargement of the Eildon Reservoir on the Goulburn River from the existing 306,000 acre feet to 2,750,000 acre feet capacity, and a 200,000 acre feet storage on the Campaspe River at Eppalock has been approved. '

, .

7. IRRIGATIONAL ASPECTS

IN the'1946 investigatio~s made by the Commonwealth Departments of Works and Housing and Post-War Reconstruction into irrigational and agricultural aspects, the various types of economic development {predominantly farming) likely to take place with water made

'available by irrigation with the Snowy waters if diverted, were considered in relation to the large areas that could be commanded by irrigation from the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. It was felt that the factors having the greatest economic and political significance were:-

(a) Physical practicability of using the Snowy waters

diverted. '

(b) The economy in the distribution of this water, (c) The cost of getting the water to each specific project and the added value of production which

would result. '

(d) Development in production.

(e) Reconstruction of existing settlements. (f) 'Stabilisation of rural industry.

(g) Development of the countryside and provision of amenities,

Although the knowledge of soils and their suitability .for irrigational development in the area commande-I was very superficial (in some places not even a reconnaissance soil survey had been made or could be made in the time available), there was no doubt that there was sufficient additional comrnandable land both in the

Murrumbidgee and Murray Valleys suitable for irrigation on which the whole of the water diverted could be absorbed. Before arriving at the most suitable detailed areas of the two river valleys, taking into account the full economics of the distribution costs, water losses and costs of production and marketing, considerable further investigation would be necessary. Both river valleys have capacity to -inorease production in horticultural products, dairy products (including pigs), rice, fodders (for sale), wool, fat lambs and beef cattle,' but it was considered that horticultural and, rice products should be dismissed from consideration in relation to the use of the Snowy River' waters as the prospective demand for them' for a long time ahead could be met

from existing resources. ,

With the information that was available, the best new area for irrigation from the Murrumbidgee River, from the point of view of location, size, compactness, soil quality, economy of development and social development appeared to be the sector from Carrathool-Steam PlainsYanko Creek-Darlington Point Area. .This -would be commandable without difficulty from the Murrumbidgee, but 'not from the Murniy without costly channelling

and pumping.'. ,:, " " . " '

Although there were areas on tbeNewSouth Wales side of the river, command able from the Murray by gravitational How.in which production could be greatly 'boosted by irrigation,' it appeared th~tcertain highly

19

suitable areas could not be irrigated by gravity, and would need to have the water pumped to them. In the past with high fuel costs such .pumping was only economical for intense cultivation or for region .. immediately adjacent to the streams. If, however, cheap electric power could be provided, the economics of irrigation for some of the higher areas would be greatly altered. One of these areas in New South Wales is that north of Echuca, and immediately west of the southern sweep of the Murray lying to the east of Deniboota. In the agreement reached between the Commonwealth and the States of New South Wales and Victoria, New South Wales is to be provided, withoutcharge, with sufficient electric power from the power developed from the Snowy Mountains Development 'to pump up to 300,000 acre feet per year (New South Wales' share of the nett amount of water added from the Snowy catchment to the Murray) to this area. .

The Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission has indicated that, with the prospect of the additional water being made available in the Murrumbidgee by the Snowy Mountains Scheme, three major proposals are under investigation along the Murrumbidgee River---

(1) By diversion from a weirsite at Mundowy, some twelve miles west of Wagga - water being diverted for use on the southern side of the river toward Lockhart and Urana, and further west, promoting some horticultural projects as well as irrigation farming and fat lamb raising.

(2) By diversion from the existing weir near Yanko Creek off-take to serve country toward Argoon to the south and between the Murrumbidgee River and Billabong Creek to the west. This country includes some high class soil suitable for horticultural development, together. with large areas adaptable to fat lamb raising, with further extensions of the works towards Hay as domestic and stock supply schemes.

(3) From a weir near Whitton serving country to the north of the Murrumbidgee River and between that river and the Lachlan, including some high class land suitable for development for fat lamb raising and some horticulture.

Proposals have been iictvanced also for extension of the area to be supplied from the Lowbidgee Diversion Weirs as an Irrigation Area or District supplementary to the present District wherein the use of water is by controlled flood irrigation of country normally flooded by the Murrumbidgee during periods of high river flow.

To make the best use from the national viewpoint of the further 570,000 acre feet, approximately, that the new developments will make available to New South Wales in . the Murray, investigations are being made by the Irrigation Authority of that State into the economics of the several individual projects possible, of which the main ones are as follow:-

(1) Corurgan:

An area of about 7&0,000 acres situated east of the present Berriquin District" comprising soil suitable for fat lamb raising, dairying and

. mixed farming. '(2) Murrakool Area:

Comprising about 195,000 acres, which could

. be irrigated by diversion from the existing

Torrumbarry Weir, and a proposed new weir to be built near the off-take of the Little Murray River or Marraboor Creek, using both water already available and water diverted from the Snowy. Development would include

'dairying, fat lamb raising, mixed· farming, with extension of horticulture at present carried on by Irrigation Trusts or private pumping on limited areas of high class soil.

(3) Moaquin Area:

Situated between Deniliquin and the Murray River on the eastern side of Denihoota Irrigation District. This area contains some good class soils which are too high to be commanded from the Works of the Deniboota District. The proposal in this case is to irrigate Moaquin lands by a pumping scheme depending on power made available by the Snowy Mountains Authority.

(4) There is also a considerable area of countrv situated between Ierilderie and Balranald and generally south of the similar area which could be served by water diverted from the Murrumbidgee River. Some of this 'country in the eastern portion will be suitable for irrigation farming on a large area or grazing basis, but the larger part of the area would contain soil warranting only domestic and stock water supply.

(5) Other projects under consideration for develop. ment along the Murray Valley include the areas suitable for horticulture and/or vegetable production between Euston and Gol Gol.

Victoria will receive from the Snowy waters 100,000 acre feet per annum measured at Albury, and by further regulaticinof the Upper Murray waters which will result from the provisions of the additional storage authorised in connection with the Snowy Scheme, there will be added to the regulated flow another 270,000 acre feet so that Victoria is planning for the use of 370,000 acre feet a year more than is now available, or can be provided with a storage of 2,000,000 acre feet at Hum» Reservoir.

The Victorian Irrigation Authority has indicated that these additional quantities of water will be used largelv to provide for the more intensive development of areas already reticulated with channels, and served from the diversion weirs at Yarrawonga and Torrumharry. There will be some extension of channels to high-quality lands adjoining existing districts, and also some further smaller diversions by pumping along the river.

The foregoing is indicated by Plate No.6, which shows the areas now being irrigated in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys in· the. two States, and the additional areas to be considered for development with the increased water made available.

Re-diversion from. Murray_

Early in the investigations it became apparent that the diversion of the Snowy to the Murray would result in the greatest development of the potential power of the Snowy waters. As, however, the demand for additional irrigational water seemed most urgent in the Murrumbidgee valley, the possibility was explored of

20

re-diverting the water from the Murray to the Murrumbidgee. The Report of the 1946 investigations indicated the possibility of running a gravity canal from the Yarrawonga Weir. in a northerly direction to connect with the Murrumbidgee, the proposal being to irrigate land west of the canal and to supply the Yanko Creek demands. No check was made, in the time available, as to whether the soils in the areas commanded warranted irrigating. It is now known that, in general. this area is poor, and much inferior to land to the east, particularly that from' the Murrumbidgee southward of Darlington Point and west of Corobimilla.

Later investigations showed it would not be possible to irrigate these better areas by gravity from the

Murray, but that they could be served by a combin-ed gravity-pumping scheme. A canal could be run from a weir on the Murray near Corowa to a location near Urana from where the water would need lifting (a large proportion up to 93 feet) to a high level canal. The estimated capital cost of the proposal was approximately £12,000,000, and the annual cost, including charges on capital costs, about £800,000, for diverting approximately 800,000 acre feet per year at a maximum rate of 2,500 cubic feet per second. It was decided that, although it was possible to irrigate the particular area in this way, it was not economic to do so, particularly as, with water made available from the Murrumbidgee River, the high costs would be obviated.

8. DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENT PROPOSAL

T HE investigations that resulted in the present scheme originated from the necessity of determining whether the diversion of the Snowy River to the Murray was a practicable proposition, and, if it was, how it compared with the proposed diversion to the Murrumbidgee, as set out in the 1944 New South Wales Report. It was indicated in that Report that, with the latter, an average

. of about 860,000 acre feet annually of water would he diverted to the Murrumbidgee and 50,000. kW. of power made available thereby. Although no estimate was made, at the 'time, of the power available from the Upper Snowy regions, attention was drawn. to the possibilities and need for investigation of this area and also that of the Upper Murrumbidgee.

With the diversion to the Murrumbidgee, which was primarily an irrigation proposition, the head available for power between Jindabyne dam and the Murrumbidgee was about 400 feet, while with a diversion west to the Murray the corresponding head would be nearly 2,000 feet; therefore, as the same amount of water would be diverted inland for irrigation- although to the Murray and not to the Murrumbidgee - the Murray proposal, if practicable, appeared the more attractive from the power aspect. From the estimates available at the time and based on the scanty data then available, nearly 350,000 kilowatts of power at 50 per cent. load factor could be generated by the Murray Diversion, again excluding the development of the Upper Snowy region.

As the investigations into the Murray proposals developed, additions and improvements were found possible and economical. The Upper Snowy areas were capable of greater economic development than originally anticipated, and. diversions, such as of the Mowamba into Jindabyne storage, the Crackenback and the Gungarlin into Island Bend, and the Indi by race line into the down shaft at the Geehi, extended the capacity and value of the scheme. Many of these improvements related also to the Murrumbidgee proposals, which improved appreciably, from the power aspect, as the investigations proceeded, but pot as much as in the case of the Murray scheme (mainly as the Murray tunnel was able to pick up a considerable amount of additional .water at an appreciable head from catchments along its course, which could be developed with

small additional head-works cost, while the Murrumbidgee tunnel would traverse areas with. no consistent rainfall) .

The possibilities of other rivers that rise in the Snowy Mountains Area soon became apparent as the investigations extended, particularly in regard to the Tooma, a tributary of the Murray, and the Tumut, a tributary of the Murrumbidgee .. With the latter, one striking fact became apparent during the enquiries, namely, that the Tumut, which provided nearly half the flow of the Murrumbidgee at Gundagai, was not regulated in any way.

The high water potential, the rapid run-off and the lack of storage sites on the upper reaches of the Tumut were in mind when the possibility of developing the Eucumbene was being investigated. It was then discovered that the levels permitted the diversion of the Upper Tumut through a diversion tunnel to the storage site on the Eucumbene River at Adaminaby. The storage at this site, which had originally shown up ir1 aerial photographs as a very promising one, could therefore be used to regulate both the Eucumbene and the Upper Tumut Rivers.

The Tooma River offered a problem as to the best method of treatment; it could be developed by itself, probably forming an attractive scheme, but this would necessitate a separate power station, staff settlement and transmission line, and, moreover, there was doubt whether sufficient storage could be obtained for its regulation. The second alternative was to divert the river by race line into the Murray diversion tunnel above Power Station M.7; this handling was proposed and a race line designed, but the latter would have been of great length, and the idea was not favoured for such an important flow of water. The third possi.bility was to divert the Tumut, as augmented by the Eucumbene, into the Tooma River, developing with a number of power stations an attractive power proposition. It would have had, however, the very serious draw-back of preventing not only the Eucumbene waters from reaching the Murrumbidgee, but also the Upper Tumut flow.

The fourth method, and the one adopted, was to divert the Upper Tooma, at a point higher up than with the

21

Aerial photograph of Adaminahy Dam site and part of the storage area, with approximate position of tunnel to Tumut Valley marked. Adruninaby township is to the, top !;"ight-hand corner' of the photograph. (R.A.A.F. official photograph; not to be reproduced' without permission.)

22

'~."

preVIOUS suggestion, by race line and tunnel into the Tumut, and at such a point that, when necessary, some or all of the Tooma flow could be 'passed along the tunnel line into' the Adaminaby storage. With this arrangement the Adaminahy-Tumut ·tunnel would, as required, carry the flow from the Adaminaby storage to power stations now known as T.l and T.2, or the flows, or part of them, of the Tooma and Upper Tumut in the reverse direction into the storage.

With the diversion of the Tooma and the Eucumhene to the Tumut and the regulation .provided . by the Adaminaby storage, the diversion of the Upper Mur-

rumbidgee into the Tumut and the development at Lob's Hole, and at the Lower Station T.6 became much more profitable power propositions.

With the additional developments mentioned above the total power capacity of the whole scheme as now proposed has been expanded to 2,620,000 kW., and the extra water made available for irrigation to 2,300,000

. acre feet. Further small additions and refinements that became apparent during the investigations have not been included, as they needed additional investigations, which will be carried out by the Authority set up to construct the scheme.

9. DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDED DEVELOPMENT

(a) GENERAL

T HE comprehensive development finally ad~pted for the Snowy Mountains Area consists of two major power schemes, which will be described separately .. In both, layouts, capacities, sizes and dimensions have been tentatively determined, so that estimates could be prepared and comparisons made of various proposals. At the time of making' this Report, however, there were not sufficient data available, particularly regarding runoff distribution, and configuration and nature of the country, to enable final design plans to be prepared. The descriptions, therefore, give only a general picture . of the proposed layouts, but it is expected that there will be no radical changes 'in the general outlines of the schemes. Each scheme has been planned to work in conjunction with the existing and future thermal stations of New South Wales, and with future thermal stations in Victoria. With this combination of thermal and water power stations, the maximum capacities of the latter stations might vary between wide limits; studies to date indicate that low load factors and high peak capacities would be economically sound for the hydroelectric developments. As mentioned later, the capacities given should be.consldered as subject-to revision, while the storage volumes, tunnel dimensions and other features of the works will depend on the adopted maximum capacity, so that any figures given for such works should be accepted as approximations only.

The general layouts of the t_wo schemes, as at present

. envisaged, are shown on Plate No.7. It will be seen that waters from the northern catchments are grouped to form the proposed Tumut Development, while. water to the south would be used in 'the Murray scheme. As previously indicated, there are three areas in the district where the ground falls below the thousand feet level, and which would form natural outlets for the power schemes. The Swampy Plains River at Khancoban is the natural outlet for the southern development. For the northern group there are two possible outlets, the Tooma Valley or the Tumut Valley. Of these, the Tumut was adopted on account of the need of meeting existing irrigation demands in the Murrumbidgee valley and the desirability of adding to the irrigation water in that valley. It appears possible that, if these needs had not existed, development by way of the Tooma valley would have given a still more attractive power scheme.

The main outlines of the two schemes are given below

under the headings (b) "Tumut Proposal" and (c) "Snowy-Murray Proposal."

(b) TUMUT PROPOSAL.

This scheme will be grasped most readily by considering it in three sections, as follows;- 1

Section (i) covers the combination of the waters of the Upper Tumut, Tooma and Eucumbene Rivers, their regulation by the Adaminaby storage, and the development of power down the Tumut valley in Stations Nos. r.i and T.2.

Section (ii ) deals with the provision of storage on the Upper Murrumbidgee River bya dam at Tantangara and the development of power through Stations T.3 and T.4 by diversion of the middle reaches of the Tumut River.

Section (iii) covers the development of power in the lower reaches of the Tumut valley, where the river' gradient is much more gradual, by dams and canals, and Power Stations

T.5, T.6 and T.? .

The main works required for Section (i)will consist of a dam on the Eucumbene River about a mile below the junction of the Frying Pan Creek. This is near Adaminaby and referred to as the Adaminaby Dam. The dam should provide 1,000,000 acre feet of effective storage with a height of approximately 175 feet from river bed to top water level at about RL. 3,740. There is a low saddle on the left bank which will require a long low embankment with maximum height of about 50 feet. . The storage will be" obtained by flooding large

,fiats on the Frying Pan and Buckanderra Creeks.

<., From the Adaminaby storage a pressure tunnel will be taken through the main dividing range from just upstream of the dam to a junction point under the Tumut River; the length is approximately 15 miles, and the sectional area about 900 square feet. 'On the Tumut River it is necessary to have another dam to provide a small pond over the junction point, with a shaft connecting the' pond to the tunnel from Adaminaby. The top water level in the pond will be above the maximum water level at the Adaminaby Dam, so that water could be fed' back from the Tumut pond to the main storage.

To bring in the water from the Tooma River a weir will be placed on that river to feed a diversion canal

23

(about 81 miles length) to a tunnel intake and tunnel (about 4! miles length) leading to the junction point at the Tumut; the capacity of these diversion works would be of the order of 2,000 cusecs. Further investigation ~ay show that provision for storage on the Tooma and smaller capacity canal and tunnel may be possible and economic. The level of these works would be such that Tooma water could be fed into the Tumut Pond and so, when necessary, to the Adaminaby storage under all operating conditions.

From the junction point under the Tumut Pond, a tunnel would be driven to a surge tank serving Power Station T.r. The sectional area of this tunnel would be approximately 950 square feet and the length about 4 miles to the surge tank, pressure shaft and underground power station. A tail water tunnel from Station T.l

would discharge into a pond formed by a weir on the Tumut from which the water will be led bya tunnel to Power Station T.2. .This latter tunnel, also 950 square feet in section, would be approximately 8 miles long to the 'surge tank, pressure shaft and power station. The discharge would again be by tail water tunnel to the Tumut River, this time ,into Lob's Hole storage, at about RL. 1,780.

With this section of the development there would be several surface canals, one to divert extra water into the Adaminaby storage, another to bring additional water to the weir pond at Station T.l, while two more would be needed to collect water from the Tooma catchment and to. convey it to the diversion point.

The approximate figures of the two Stations, T.l and T.2 in this Section would be as fo11ows:-

Average Average Load Factor on
Station Head Flow Installed Average Installed
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs, Capacity Output Capacity
kW. kW. %
Tumut .. r.i 980 1,250 320,000 86,000, . 27
Section (il T.2 920 1,320 320,000 85,000 . 27 The· main work for Section (ii) would be a dam on the Upper Murrumbidgee at Tantangara, the height of which would be approximately 150 feet, giving a gross storage of over 350,000 acre feet, with the top water elevation' at about R.L. 4080. From this a tunnel would run under the dividing ridge to a surge tank, pressure shaft and underground Power Station T.3 on the Tumut side of the mountains. It is expected the length would be about 8 miles and the sectional area about 300 square feet. The discharge from this Power Station would be by a tail water tunnel to a pond, formed

. by a small weir on the Yarrangobilly Rive:, which is a

tributary of the Tumut. A further tunnel about 5 miles long and 450 square feet· sectional area would- carry the flow from this pond to the surge tank and underground Power Station T.4. The tunnel discharge in this case would be to a small tributary of the Y arrangobill y at the level of Lob's Hole storage (at RL. 1,780).

With Section (ii) of the Tumut Development there will be two diversion canals feeding into the Tantangara Dam, two bringing additional water into the surge tank at T.3 and another to the T.4 head water pond.

The approximate figures for the two stations-TB and T.4 would be as fo11ows:-

Average Average Load Factor on
Station Head Flow Installed . Average Installed
Scheme No. . Feet Cusecs . Capacity Output Capacity
kW. kW. %
Tumut . . .. T.3 1,280 350 120,000 32,000 27
Section (ii) .. T.4 990 500 135,000 35,000 26 The. main work required for Section (iii) would include a dam on the Tumut River at Lob's Hole; from present investigations a height of about 170 feet is expected, giving a small storage only, 'probably under 100,000 acre feet gross, and with full water level about R.L. 1,780. The main purpose of the dam would be to create head for power generation as only the top part of the storage would be used to . regulate the flow of the Yarrangobilly River and the discharges from Power Stations T.2 and T.4. At the foot of the dam there would be ·Power Station T.5, with a head of about 160 feet, and it would discharge to a regulating pond formed by a weir on the Tumut River from which a canal would lead down the Tumut valley to a forebay pond near Power Station T.6. This regulating pond at Station T.5 would have to be of a moderate capacity to regulate the discharge of this Station, which' would be operating as a peak load Station, and so even out the flow in the canal to Station T.6, which it is proposed to operate at a high load factor.

The canal would be about 30 miles in length (including an extension bringing in the J ounama Creek) and have a maximum capacity of about 3,000 cusecs. It would lead to a smaller regulating pond, formed on a tributary creek of the Tumut River, and pipelines to Power Station T.6 - which would operate under head of about 370 feet with an open discharge into the Blowering storage. The latter, . with a dam height of about 250 feet, would. have a full storage capacity of about 800,000 acre feet and with full supply level at approximately R.L. 1,200.

Although the Blowering Dam would be primarily for regulating and storing water from the Power Stations and from additional run· off above the dam for irrigational requirements, turbines would be installed on the outlets from it-in Power Station T~7. The flow through the turbines, being governed by· irrigation requirements, could not be counted on to furnish any firm power demand value, and would be used for energy production only.

24

The approximate figures for the Stations T.5, 1.6 and T.7 in this Section would be as follows:-

Average Average
Station Head Flow
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs.
Tumut T.5 160 1,900
Section (iii) T.6 370 1,980
T.7 170 2,040 Installed Capacity kW.

Average Output kW.

Load Factor on Installed Capacity

0/0

110,000 85,000 5Q,000

22,000 54,000 22,000

20 63 44

An indication of the approximate levels of the various works is given by the diagrammatic sections shown on Plate No.8.

the Jindabyne Dam and the main tunnel from it" shafts. at Island Bend and at the Geehi River, Power Stations M.3, M.5L, M.6 and M.7, and the various feeder canals necessary to give these Stations their maximum supply of water .

Section (ii) would include the power developments above Island Bend, including all works for Power Stations M.l, M.2H and M.2L.

Section (iii) would consist of the power developments on the Upper Geehi, above the level of the main tunnel, and Power Stations M.4 and M.5H.

(c) SNOWY-MURRAY PROPOSAL.

This comprehensive scheme can also be considered in three sections, although in this case the main tunnel

. development and associated works would produce such a large proportion of the total power that the other sections might be looked upon more as minor additions to the main section. The three sections would be briefly as follows:- .

Section (i ) would be composed of the main diversion of the Snowy River to the Murray valley, necessitating the construction of

The Valley of the Eucumbene River from the road to Mt_ Kosciusko.

Aerial photograph of -portion of Jindabyne storage are~showing Euc.umbene River entering Snowy River from top left and Crackenback River from bottom right. The approximate siting of offtake of tunnel to the Murray Valley is marked. The road to Mt. Kosciusko area is shown, centre and left. (R. A. A. F. official photograph; not to be reproduced without permission.)

Section (i).

This section may be considered in two stages:(a) the construction of main tunnel and Stations M.6 and M.7, and subsidiary Stations M.3 and M.5L.

(b) the works necessary" to give full power to these Stations.

The main works required for Section (ia) would consist of a dam on "the Snowy River a little more than a mile below the town of Jindabyne. The height from riverbed to maximum water level would be approximately 245 feet, giving full surface level of about RL. 3,050, and a storage capacity of over 1,100,000 acre feet (of this, due to level of tunnel take-off, at least 90,000 acre feet would be non-effective), The large storage would permit the development of a large capacity power scheme and would ensure a high percentage utilisation of all water coming into the system.

The main diversion tunnel would take off from the Snowy River leg of the storage, near the junction of the Crackenback River, and run westerly towards the Murray. (See photograph, page 26.) This tunnel would pass under the Snowy at Island Bend and under the Geehi River, and shafts would be sunk from" both rivers to meet it. From the Snowy the shaft depth would be nearly 1,000 feet, and at the Geehi approximately 100 feet

The sectional areas of the tunnel would be approximately 700 square feet from Jindabyne storage to Island Bend, 1,150 square feet from there to the Geehi and 1,500 square feet from" the Geehi to the surge tank at Station M.6. The length of these three sections would be approximately 8 miles, 9i miles and 41 miles, giving a total length of about 22 miles.

Immediately upstream of the shaft at Island Bend, and commanding it, a weir would be constructed on the Snowy River to provide a considerable pondage for regulating the flow through the shaft. Similarly, a weir would be necessary on the Geehi River with top above the maximum water level in the Jindabyne storage, so that" surplus flood water in the Geehi" may flow back to the main storage when ne~essary. From the pond formed by this latter weir water from the Geehi River would dow down a shaft to the main tunnel.

The first Power Station, M.6, on the main tunnel,

with surge tank and pressure shaft," would he located underground at about 22 miles from the start, and it would discharge by tunnel into Bogong Creek. However, in addition to the water drawn from the main storage at Jindabyne, additional water from the Upper Snowy at Island Bend and from the Geehi would enter the main tunnel through the vertical shafts at these two points as already mentioned, and Power Stations M.3 and M.5L would be installed near the bottom of them to utilise the water entering under the heads between the pondages and the tunnel.

As the water in the Bogong Creek near the discharge from Station M.6 would be at about RL. 2,450, considerable power value would still remain with it at this point. Accordingly, the proposal is to provide a weir on the Bogong Creek to pick up the discharge from Station M.6 and divert it into a further section of the main tunnel. This would be of about 4! miles length and approximately 1,500 square feet cross-section, and lead to the surge tank and underground Power Station M.7. The Station M.7 would be well back in the hills with ramped tunnel access from an adjacent valley and

" a tail water tunnel about two miles in length discharging into the Swampy Plains River (near Khancoban) at an elevation of about RL. 1,000.

The main works for Section (ib) of the SnowyMurray scheme would consist of a number of diversion channels either to bring in additional water to the system for power production" and irrigation, or to lead it in at a higher level to give a greater head for power generation. The first of these channels would divert the Mowamba into Jindabyne storage, as otherwise it would reach the Snowy below the Jindabyne Dam, and thus not be available for diversion. Two others would divert the Upper Crackenback and" Gungarlin into the Island Bend pond, at a level of about' 4,000 feet.

Other channels would bring in additional water from the Geehi and Bogong Creek catchments to the main tunnel via the Geehi pond and the surge tank at No.6 Station, while a further long channel (up to 140 miles) is proposed for bringing water in from the Upper Murray (or Indi River) and from the Lower Geehi

catchment to the Geehi pond, "

The approximate figures for the four Stations, M.3, M.5L, M.6 and M.7 in Section (i ) of the Snowy-Murraj portion of the development would be as follows:-

Load Factor on
Average Average Installed Average Installed
Station Head Flow Capacity Output Capacity
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs, kW. kW. %
Snowy- M.3 930 920 190,000 62,000 ~3
Murray M.5L 75 740 20,000 4,000 20
Section (i) M.6 560 1,920 290,000 82,000 .28
M.7 1,420 1,930 910,000 201,000 22 Section (ii).

Various alternative layouts are possible for the development of the top areas and these require further investigations before anyone is adopted. The proposal given herewith consists of two sections, the first depend. ing on Spencer Creek storage, not far from the" source of the Snowy, and the other, a small subsidiary development, generating power from the area north of Island Bend,

The main works for these two projects would be a low dam at Spencer" Creek about 80 feet high, giving full water level at approximately R.L. 5,725, and a storage of about 15,000 acre" feet. The rel~ti:~l! Hat land above this dam site offers the best possibilities of a storage above "the 5,000 foot level, but the natural catchment to a dam at this level would be small, and additional water from various canals would be brought in from surrounding high yield areas. With the great

27

Site of the Spencer Creek Dam.

power value of water stored at such a high elevation, it may be economical to increase the capacity of the Spencer Creek site above the 15,000 acre feet now mentioned, and this possibility requires further investigation. The canals, feeding into Spencer Creek storage, would on account of their high elevation, be subject to normal ice and snow problems which, however, have heen encountered ·and overcome under much more severe conditions in other parts of the world.

One of the high level canals would extend into the Murray catchment west of Mount Kosciusko, resulting in an average draw of approximately 90 cusecs of water now flowing direct to the Murray.

From the Spencer Creek storage, and leading to the surge tank, pressure shaft and underground Power Station M.I, there would be a tunnel about five miles long, with a sectional area of about 200 square feet. There would he also two high level collecting races bringing additional water into the Station via the surge tank.

The discharge from Station M.I would be by a tail race tunnel discharging into the Snowy near the Munyang River Junction where a weir. on the former would provide a pond for diverting the flow into a second tunneL This tunnel would be about two miles long and of about 250 square feet area. It would lead to the surge tank, pressure shaft and underground Power Station M.2L. The discharge would be again by a tail water tunnel, about ! mile long, to the Island Bend pond mentioned in Section [ia);

In the same Power Station as M.2L, and using the same tail race discharge tunnel, would be some higher head generators, forming M.2H, fed by a pressure shaft from a small dam and pondage on Finn's River. This pondage, with top RL. about 4,950, would be augmented by diversion canals from the Burrungubugge River on the east and from the lYIunyang River catchment on the west.

The approximate figures for the three Stations, M.I, M.2L, and M.2H of this Section would be as follows:-

Average Average
Station Head Flow
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs.
Snowy- M.I 1,270 350
Murray M.2H 950 110
Section (ii ) M.2L 420 490 Load Factor on
Installed Average Installed
Capacity Output Capacity
kW. kW. %
90,000 31,000 34
25,000 7,000 28
40,000 15,000 37 level canal bringing water from the head of the Ceehi and from high level catchments east of that river.

The discharge from Station M.4 would be picked up from a small intake pond below the Power Station and conveyed by another canal to an artificial pond above the Geehi River. This would be formed by excavation and embankment on relatively- flat land. A second canal, collecting water from the south-east side of the Geehi

catchment, would also feed into it. From the pond there would be a pressure shaft to underground Power Station' M.5H.

On the west side of the Geehi catchment there would also be collecting races at the same level as those on

the east side, running to a second pressure shaft bringing additional water at the same head to Station M.5H.

The approximate figures for the two Stations M.4 and M.5H would be as given in the following table:-

Load Factor on Installed Capacity

%

Average Average Installed
Station Head Flow Capacity
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs. kW.
Snowy-Murray M.4 1,230 160 50,000
Section (iii) M.5H 780 330 65,000 Average Output kW.

13,000 19,000

26 29

10. STATISTICS OF RECOMMENDED

DEVELOPMENTS

POWER MADE AVAILABLE.

THE average output of the proposed developments is

indicated from the heads and from the estimated water available at the intakes' for the various Stations. . The run-offs at various crucial points of the catchments are not yet definitely established, but the preliminary assessments made are considered to provide a reasonable indication of the average available outputs.

It is intended that these power schemes should work in conjunction with Steam Stations. Under these

conditions the maximum firm capacities given to the Stations may vary between very wide limits. The determination of the economic limit of capacity is a complex problem which, due to the liniited time available and' to the lack of data and. staff, has not yet been completely studied. The maximum firm demand and installed capacity values for the Stations as quoted below should, therefore, be considered as tentative only; these figures have already been mentioned in the description of the proposals.

Power Data - Figures Approximate Only.

Load Factor on Installed Capacity

%

Average Average Installed Average
I Station Head Flow Capacity Output
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs. kW. kW.
Thmut. T.1 980 1,250 320,000 86,000
i (Complete' T.2 920 1,320 320,000 85,000
I Scheme) T.3 1,280 350 120,000 32,000
T.4 990 500 135,000 35,000
T.5 160 1,900 lIO,OOO 22,000
T.6 370 1,980 85,000 54,000
T.7 170 2,040 50,000 22,000
Totals .. .. .. 1,140,000 336,000
Total Firm Capacity for Scheme 1,020,000
Overall Load Factor on Firm Capacity 32.9%
Average Average Installed Average
Station Head Flow Capacity Output
Scheme No. Feet Cusecs. kW. kW.
Snowy- M.l 1,270 350 90,000 31,000
Murray M.2H 950 UO 25,000 7,000
(Complete M.2L 420 490 40,000 15,000
Scheme) M.3 930 920 190,000 62,000
M.4 1,230 160 50,000 13,000
M.5H 780 330 65,000 19,000
M.5L 75 740 20,000 4,000
M.6 560 1,920 290,000 82,000
M.7 1,420 1,930 910,000 201,000
Totals .. . . . . 1,680,000 434,000
Total Firm Capacity for Scheme 1,600,000
Overall Load Factor on Firm Capacity 27.1% 27 27 27 26 20 63 44

Load Factor on Installed Capacity

%

34 28 37 33 26 29 20 28 22

periods 'when the water level was too low for operation of the Station.

NOTE: It is assumed that Tumut Station No. T.7, taking discharge from an irrigation dam, would have no firm capacity, and that its output would be reduced by

29

Valley of the Geehi River.
Summary. )
.-'
Number Overall
of installed Firm Average Load
Power Capacity Capacity Output Factor
Scheme Stations kW. kW. kW, %
Tumut .. . . 7 1,140,000 1,020,000 336,000 ,,2.9
Snowy-Murray 9 1,680,000 ,1,600,000 434,000 27.1
Snowy Mountains 16 2,820,000 2,620,000 770,000 29.4 . The Total Firm Capacity of the whole Development as proposed would be, therefore, 2,620,000 kW.

(b) WATER MADE AVAILABLE.

Shortage of time and of staff did not permit a close determination of the total extra water which would be made available for irrigation in the Murrumbidgee and Murray valleys. It was necessary to await the completion of the work of the Hydro-Electric Sub-Committee, dealing with. power proposals, before data could be made available on the monthly diversions to the Murray and Tumut Rivers. With the - data now available a considerable amount of work still remains to be done to determine how effective the proposed storages will be in regulating the water for irrigational use and whether any. additional storage will be necessary.

As the diverted water will naturally mix freely with the normal flows in the Tumut and Murray Rivers, it will be necessary to consider the increase in the augmented flows in each river as separate quantities of water and work out their effect on the storages. The storages may be considered as performing two functions, firstly, giving a certain degree of regulation to the diverted waters; and, secondly, giving regulation or further regulation to the natural flows of the rivers

. concerned, Although this work was not closely studied, approximate figures are given, which should be treated as tentative estimates only. These figures were based on the assumptiou that not less than 600,000 acre feet of storage would be provided at Blowering on the Tumut and approximately 1,500,000 acre feet additional storage on the Upper Murray, excluding any storage reserved for pow:er requirements.

30

AVERAGE WATER AVAILABLE EACH YEAR DUE TO DIVERSIONS ALONE:

To Murrumbidgee.

From Eucumbene (Snowy) " 235,000 acre ft.

From Tooma (Murray) 330,000 " "

.Total extra new tooter ..

565,000 acre-ft.yyr. (average)

730,000 acre ft.

These figures, as previously indicated, should be considered as a preliminary indication only, and will not be attained until the irrigation storages mentioned are completed.

Further study of this phase of the work is being made at present by the Irrigation Authorities of New South Wales and Victoria.

(c) COSTS AND ECONOMICS.

The . capital costs shown below exclude cost of transmission from power stations to load centres, as the centres for distribution are not yet certain, although the . bulk of the power would probably be transmitted to Sydney and Melbourne. For the calculations, however,

the figures adopted for value of power at power stations have been based on all the power going to these two main centres, and have allowed for the annual trans- . mission costs and losses. The value of power is taken as the cost of producing equivalent power by the best combination of thermal stations.

Cost and Economic Data.
Estimated Total Annual Annual
Scheme Capital Annual Operating Annual Value of Gain by
Cost Charges Charges Costs Power Scheme
Tumut 61,000,000 2,800,000 150,000 2,950,000 6,250,000 3,300,000
Murray. 64,000,000 3,000,000 200,000 3,200,000 9,200,000 6,000,000
TOTAL. 125,000,000 5,800,000 350,000 6,150,000 15,450,000 9,300,000 Capital Territory and in country areas of New South Wales and Victoria, the amount included for transmission should be appreciably less.

To indicate the relative economic merits of various parts of the schemes, the following table sets out the gains which are expected to accrue from the developments in groups, each group being a natural unit development. (Refer Description of Recommended Development. )

Possible Stage Development.
Capital Power Cost per Annual Gain as
Group Cost Firm Demand kW. Gain % of
£ kW. £ £ Cost
Tumut I and 2 30,400,000 600,000 51 2,050,000 6.7
Murray 3, 5L, 6
and 7 52,000,000 1,340,000 39 4,980,000 9.6
Murray 4 and 5H 4,200.000 110,000 38 420,000 10.0
Tumut 3 and 4 10,700,000 240,000 45 880,000 8.2
Murray I and 2L 6,800,000 130,000 52 470,000 6.9
Murray 2H 1,200,000 20,000 60 70,000 5.8
Tumut 5 and 6 14,900,000 180,000 83 430,000 2.9
Tumut 7 4,800,000
TOTALS 125,000,000 2,620,000 47.7 9,300,000 7.4
31 To Murray.

From Snowy and Mowamba Less-

To Tumut (Tooma water)

330,000 "

"

Total extra new water " 400,000 acre ft./yr.

(average)

TOTAL AVERAGE EXTRA WATER AVAILABLE FOR IRRIGATION. USE (DIVERSION AND REGULATION) •

Tentative approximations only.

In Murrumbidgee valley 1,400,000 acre ft./yr.

In Murray valley .. .. .. .. 940,000" "

All these figures are ill pounds (Australian). The "Annual Charges" include interest, sinking fund, and replacement charges on capital expenditure.

A very approximate figure of £100,000,000 was taken out for the cost of transmission, assuming the whole of the po:wer generated going to Sydney and Melbourne. With this figure the total cost of the complete scheme would be about £225,000,000, but, with consumption of appreciable power in the Australian

The township of Adiliinaby. Part of the town will be submerged when the Eucumbene River 'has been dammed, and a large area of the land in the background will become a sheet of water.

(d) DIMENSIONS.

A summary of the main works as Section 11 is given in the following:-

TUMUT SCHEME.

Dams.

A p prox, Height 180 feet 160 "

170 ;,

250 "

described In

Name Adaminaby Tantangara Lob's Hole Blowering .

Approx. Storage 1,000,000 acre feet

350,000" "

50,000" "

800,000" "

Tunnels.

Six separate tunnels with total lengths of 47 miles. Cross ·sectional areas of 300 up' to 1,000 sq. feet.

Race Lines.

Total length of approximately 160 miles of varying

cross sections. .

Name Jindabyne Spencer Creek . Upper Murray

MURRAY SCHEME~ Dams.

Appro». Height 245 feet

80 "

To be determined

Approx. Storage 1,100,000 acre feet

15,000" "

Tunnels.

Five sections with total length of 40 miles.

Cross sectional areas from 200 up to 1,500 sq. ft.

Race Lines.

Total length of approximately 330 miles of varying cross sections.

(e) BASIS OF ESTIMATES •.

The investigations commencing in 1946 were initiated to decide whether the ,diversion of the Snowy River to the Murray was a practicable proposition and, if it was,

to compare it with the diversion to the Murrumbidgee proposed in the New South Wales Report of 1944 .. For the latter reason, the unit rates for cost for the Murray proposal were based on the estimates for the Murrumbidgee scheme; the latter were first prepared by the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission on 1939 (pre-war) costs, but were brought up to date by the New South Wales Snowy River Committee in 1944 by adding 30 per cent. to the civil engineering construction items generalty and by re-estimating, at current .rates, the cost of power stations and transmission lines. In the 1947 Report on the investigations, these amended rates were adopted with variations where necessary to meet conditions of greater or lesser difficulty.

As the investigations proceeded, not only did more information become available, making new estimates advisable, but cost's of labour and materials tended to increase considerably. The estimates were, therefore, reviewed in 1948, and rates holding at May of that year were adopted, and have been retained for any later calculations. The .unit cost rates in this Report are, therefore, based on costs in May, 1948, and should be amended as necessary for estimates at any later date. Any increases in costs due to rising price levels may be expected to be accompanied by similar increases in the value of power, thus the economic .comparison should be more or less unaffected.

The estimates for the dam at Jindabyne were taken out by engineers of the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission, New South Wales, and they formed the basis of the figures adopted for the Adaminaby and Spencer Creek storages. In the estimates for the dams, as with other civil engineering works, the rates used

32

r

I

i

!

were about 33 per cent. above the 1944 rates, .or 75 per cent. above those of 1939.

For the tunnels, the rates arrived at were compared with the costs obtained at Kiewa, with which they were in close agreement. As the work at Kiewa was on a smaller scale and had not reached full swing, it was considered that the rates adopted, which included costs

. of access shafts, "adits and incidental expenses, would be conservative. The figures for the race lines were . based on experience with similar lines in Tasmania, and on estimates prepared by the State Electricity Commiesion of Victoria in comparable country at Kiewa in Victoria, and adjusted to May, 1948, rates.

The estimates for generating plant were based on preliminary quotations obtained from British manufacturers in June, 1948.

The cost figures given include all overhead charges, including interest during construction.

Although every effort was made to obtain reliable estimates, the figures were taken out at a post-war time of financial instability, and with insufficient physical. data. They should be considered therefore as preliminary only, and should be reviewed before any major development is undertaken.

On the credit side the figures given for the annual gain are based on the return from the power generated

only, no credit being given for the water made available for irrigation .. In calculating the annual value of the power, unit rates were adopted to correspond with unit rates of power as produced by alternative means, oiz., black coal in New South Wales and black and brown coal in Victoria. Allowances were made for annual costs and losses in transmission, based on 60 per cent . of the total power produced going to New South Wales and 40 per. cent. to Victoria. On this basis the Demand Value per kilowatt of power from the Murray Section of the scheme was taken at £3.94 per annum, and from the Tumut at £3.27, while the corresponding Energy Values per k.W hour were 0.18d. and 0.199d.

Although no credit h~s been given for the value of the water made available for irrigation by the diversions and storages, the extra water provided has a great value and adds very appreciably to the attractiveness of the whole proposition. The actual average amounts of water made available for irrigation annually in the two main river valleys is, very approximately,' 2,300,000 acre feet. Compare this with the estimate which has been made of £6,000,000 to provide for an additional regulated 400,000 acre feet in the Upper Murray itself after the Hume Reservoir has been extended to 2,000,000 acre feet as already approved.

11. TUNNELS AND' RACE LINES

RTHOUGH one of the earliest proposals for the diversion of the Snowy was by open channel, all the later ones have necessitated considerable lengths of tunnelling. With the present proposals there would be eleven main tunnels, totalling approximately 87 miles in length. The individual lengths will vary, the longest being about 22 miles, while the cross-sections will run from about 200 to 1,500 square feet.

With the tunnels under the main ridges, as with the IS·mile length from Adaminaby to the Tumut, and with the 22·mile tunnel from Jindabyne to Bogong Creek, the depth of the tunnels renders the sinking of shafts to them and the working of intermediate faces a costly and difficult proposition. In the case of the AdaminabyTumut tunnel, it may not be economical, nor necessary from the time aspect, to work from any intermediate points, in which case the whole length would be driven from the two portals only. In this regard the construction of the 13·mile tunnel for diversion of the Colorado River in U.S.A., carried out in four yearsand these during the recent war - is of particular

interest. ' :. .

With the 22·mile tunnel from the Jindabyne storage to Bogong Creek, intermediate shafts are needed for power development, the first being about 1,000 feet deep

. and at Island Bend, about eight miles from the entrance portal i and the second, less than 100 feet deep, 'at the GeehiRiver, about five miles from Bogong Creek. These will probably be used. during construction as inter: mediate points to provide additional working faces.

.. With such a great length of tunnel to 'he driven, some difficulties· of construction must be anticipated, but

from the investigations .made, it was not possible to forecast what hazards are likely to be met, and of what probable severity. However, for both the Tumut and Murray sections of the proposal, the geological investigations indicate that the tunnels should be in sound rock for the greater part of their length. It has been assumed, therefore, that a small proportion only of the "tunnels would require lining, and cross-sectional areas 'have been calculated on this basis.· All the tunnels, excepting those for tail races, would operate under pressure, and where they merge into the inclined shafts to the underground power stations, they would be steel lined, with a concrete and pressure grouted backing, where the "pressure necessitates it.

In preparing the estimates for the tunnels, -it was borne in mind .that, although severe hazards have been encountered in many major tunnelling works overseas, these were overcome and the projects completed, at, of course., some increase .in .cost. It was felt, therefore, there was no reason why the tunnels proposed in this scheme should : not be driven and, as 'conditions in

. general '·"'i1h r them: app eared good, and as tunnelling plant and technique have improved in recent years, no abnormal hazards were allowed for in the estimates. The rates adopted, however, allow for normal difficulties likely to be encountered in such work, and should be sufficient to COVer actual costs.

.. Race Lines:

" In th~ investigations co·nsiderabl~ ti~e was spent on the study of the location, length, capacity. and economics of the various.' race lines proposed as an' integral part

33

The valley of Jindabyne which will hold the waters of the Jindabyne Dam.

of the development. For the estimates, trapezoidal cross-sections were assumed, with side slopes of 1.25 horizontal to 1.00 vertical as this shape appeared suitable for most of the country traversed. About 20% only of the race lines would he in areas where severe climatic conditions would be anticipated, while most of them would feed into the main storages only, so that any race line failures would be unlikely to affect demand value appreciably, although they would probably have some effect on energy output.

When preparing the race line estimates, each little catchment had to be considered separately, and the aim was to determine in each case what portion of the total run-off it would be economical to divert. For this the rule adopted was' that "Maximum economy obtains wh~n the sum of the annual charges on diversion works and the annual value of power losses due to limitation of these works reached a minimum."

. In arriving at anticipated water yields from the various race lines, the hourly records over 20 years for

the gauging stations on the Kiewa scheme, in adjacent country in Victoria were studied to obtain the proportions diverted for channels of different capacities. The results from gauges at an elevation of about 5,300. feet were used for the upper race lines. and those. from one at about 2,200 feet for the lower ones.

. Although it . was considered that an ordinary trapezoidal section would be suitable for the major part of the country. traversed, and that such race "lines would be largely machine excavated and . lined (three-inch concrete lining was allowed for), there would he some areas.. such as near the Geehi River, where the country would. be rocky and with steep side slopes. Here different cross-sections and methods of construction woiIld be necessary, with flume in some places and . deep narrow channels in others. ,At major creek crossings it was assumed. that the races would normally be placed on low consolidated hanks, with ample culvert capacity to allow flood waters to flow under them, while provision would be made to pick up the design capacity of the streams by short pipe lines or races.

TRANSMISSION TO LOAD' CENTRES OF POWERG ENERATED

12.

ALTHOUGH it was impossible to give really reliable . figures for the costs of transmission from the

points of generation to load centres, some estimates were given in the earlier reports, .but they were indicative onl y, and .were based on 220,000 volt transmission, and onthewhole of-the power generated flowing to the main load centres: inNew-South Wales and Victoria in the

proportion of 60 per cent. to. Sydney and 40 per cent. to Melbourne.

Not only were these percentages altered later, but also an appreciable proportion of the power generated would be required' for the Australian Capital Territorywhich is much nearer the source of generation.' ·Of the balance to the two States, some would be consumed at intermediate country centres, particularly as with.

thestimuJus of additional irrigation water and a sure and plentiful supply of power there would be a tendency for decentralisation of certain industrial undertakings.

The power that will be developed under the project will become available in stages, the first probably being that from Station T.l and T.2 on the Upper Tumut, which may come into operation in 8 to 10 years from the present. The last of the power developments, possibly being one of the Upper Snowy Stations, may not be available for about 30 years,. by which time there may be major changes in centres of demand in New South Wales and Victoria. Moreover, there have been recent developments in high voltage direct current transmission, and this, or advances in alternating current practice, may greatly affect the costs of

transmission. .

In calculating the full costs of the proposal it was

necessary to include transmission costs to prove the whole development was not only financially sound but also very attractive. The tentative estimates which were based on the assumptions above, resulted. in a total transmission cost of £100,000,000, or nearly half of the total cost of the whole scheme. This amount included step-up transformers, transmission . lines and easements, switch stations, step-down transformers, synchronous condensers and communications. The assumptions are, however, very conservative, and it is anticipated that the actual costs will be appreciably lower. Another point to bear in mind also is that the value given to the power produced, in the figures quoted, allows for annual costs and losses for transmission on the }v"hole of the power to Sydney and Melbourne in the same proportions as given above; for points closer for delivery, a higher value could be given to the power.

13. REGULATION, ON THE RIVER MURRAY, OF WATER DIVERTED FROM THE SNOWY

AS it was finally decided that the storage proposed at Jindabyne should be reserved for power generation requirements only, a storage in the Murray Valley was considered necessary to regulate, from the irrigation aspect, the water discharging from the last of the power stations, M.7, on the diversion tunnel from, the. Snowy.

No definite capacity was determined for the storage for this purpose other than it should not be less than 250,000 acre feet, as it was considered it should form part of a larger, comprehensive storage in 'the Upper Murray providing for regulation of the Snowy waters, any additional regulation decided on for the Murray itself, and for any requirement solely for hydro-electric generation.

With the staff and in the time available, it was not possible to investigate. all the factors affecting the capacity, such as the diversion of the Snowy to and the Tooma .from the Murray, the effect, particularly in critical periods, of the increase in the capacity of the Hume Reservoir to 2,000,000 acre feet, the possible altered irrigation programme with the greater amount of water available; and, finally, the economics of any such . comprehensive storage. It was felt, however, that a storage of not less than 1,500,000 acre feet additional

to' the 2;000,000 acre feet of Hume Reservoir could he justified, particularly as, with at least 250,000 acre feet reserved for power generation, a dam up river from the

flume storage would have a high value from the power aspect. In this respect it might be pointed out that from 60,000 to 70,000 kW. of firm power could be developed at one of the possible sites by increasing the height of the dam by about 10 feet above the 130 feet necessary to give the 1,500,000 acre feet of storage. It might be economical to design for even a higher capacity with the station operated for high peak loads and the Jindabyne-Khancoban system developed for a higher load factor than proposed in the foregoing.

The investigation of. several sites on the Murray indicated that, although foundation. conditions were not good, and that rich alluvial flats would be submerged, ~ satisfactory storage could be obtained and at reasonable cost. The cheapest storage up to H million acre feet could be obtained by increasing the capacity of the Hume above the two million acre feet decided, but this would have comparatively little power value, and would result in having- all the storage at one site. At locations above Hume Reservoir on the Murray River storages of up to 2,000,000 acre feet could be obtained at an estimated cost per acre foot of about £11.4 with half a million, £6.8 with one million, £5.4 with Ii millions, and £4.6 with 2 million acre feet storage.

It would appear that with the increasing demand for irrigation water in the Murray Valley, and taking into account the additional power possibilities, a further major storage on the Murray above the Hume Reservoir is warranted.

14. EFFECT OF DIVERSION ·OF THE SNOWY RIVER ON THE LOWER REACHES OF THE RIVER

AT the present time, little use is being made of the Snowv River: it rises in New South Wales near Mount Kosciusko at an elevation of over 7,000 feet, flows North-east for aboutLd miles to Island Bend,

at which distance it has fane~ to about the 4,000 foot level, then turns in a big loop, first South-east,. next South, and then due West until, near the Victorian border, it turns almost due South again, continuing in thisdirec-

·35

tion until it flows to waste in the sea. For most of its length it is through rugged, undeveloped country with no close settlement near it, but for the last 20 miles before reaching its mouth at Marlo, it passes from the hills into the rich Snowy River Flats near Orbost.

No use is made of its waters for power production and practically none for irrigation. Various schemes for the former have been proposed, the most definite being that developed by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton for the New South Wales Government; under this scheme a tunnel was proposed to short-circuit the "loop" in the

,river mentioned above, to develop the head that would have been obtained, using a storage at Jindabyne as in the present proposals. About 220,000 kW. of power would have been developed in the New South Wales scheme, and the resulting regulation of the river would have permitted Victoriarto economically generate about 130,000 kW. in the Victorian portion of the river. After the diversion of practically the whole of the Upper Snowy flow to the interior it would not be economical to develop any appreciable amount of power on the Victorian side.

Although no appreciable irrigation of the rich river flats near Orbost is carried out from the Snowy River, the view was expressed by residents that a considerable reduction in the river flow might cause the following results;-

(a) Lowering of the water table under the Flats with consequent loss of fertility in the summer.

(b) Deposition of silt in the bed of the river through

the Flats.

(c) The extension further upstream of salt water from the sea, affecting the watering of stock, and .the use of wells for water supply; and

(d) The closing of the mouth of the river by a sand-bar at times of low flow, resulting in flooding of low areas before .the bar be broken down by the increased head or by freshets. .

After inspection of the area and consideration of the problems, it was decided that there was little justification for the fears mentioned, and, moreover, that if any deleterious effects appeared they could be overcome by the construction of relatively minor works, such as, for instance, the provision of a comparatively small storage on one of the Snowy tributaries below Hndabyne for boosting the flow of the river should it decrease at any time to dangerous limits.

As any such minor work would be wholly in the State of Victoria.. and as that State has other responsibilities in regard to the lower Snowy River, it was decided that Victoria should accept full responsibility for dealing with any deleterious effects on the. lower reaches of the river caused by the diversion to the Murray and Tumut of the Upper Snowy waters. In return, it was agreed that Victoria should receive 100,000 acre feet of the average nett 400,000 acre feet of the water from New South Wales catchments diverted from the Snowy River to the Murray Valley, (Other references are made to this diverted water under the heading "Irrigational Aspects.")

15~ APPORTIONMENT OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED

AT the time' of the. establishment of the Australian Capital Territory, an Agreement was made (18th

" October, 1909) between the Commonwealth and the State of New South Wales which included provision for the use of the Snowy River for power generation. The Agreement provided, inter alia, "The State shall grant to the Commonwealth without .payment therefor the right. to use the waters of the Snowy River and such other rivers as may be agreed. upon, or, in default of agreement, may .be .determined by arbitration, for the generation of electricity for the purposes of the Territory, and to construct the works necessary for that purpose and to conduct electricity so generated to the Territory."

Although the present power load for the Australian Capital. Territory is not large, the Commonwealth Government had been considering developments iri the 'territory, including activities related to defence, which required considerable blocks of power. Further, it was greatly concerned at the vulnerability to enemy attack of t~~yl~H~!!;t~y'S .ma~l1 P?I'(e:: .stat~o~s, which are locate~ near' the coast; and so It joined- WIth the States of New South Wales and Victoria in the investigations which led to. the development of :the· comprehensive scheme now approved.

-As the various works of the Snowy Mountains Project will be welldispersedywith most of- the power 'stations and the.. main" water lines underground, the' scheme should provide' a power supply that will be reasonably secure in time of war.

Under normal conditions in time of peace the Commonwealth's direct need for continuous power would not be very great, but it required provision for very large blocks of power over short periods. This supply could, it was considered, fit into low portions of the daily or weekly load curve, and thus there would be available considerable surplus power to feed into the power networks of the two adjacent States of New South Wales and Victoria. In time of emergency, the Commonwealth would then draw its large power requirements from these networks.

In the preliminary investigations, it was assumed that the surplus power would be shared between the two States approximately in proportion to their populations which, at the time, gave 60 per cent; to New South Wales and 40 per cent. to Victoria. In the Ministerial discussions, however, it was agreed that the division should be such that, including any other hydro-electric power available in each State, the total amount of hydroelectric power' available should be approximately the same per head of population. Victoria is better endowed with hydro-electric power possibilities than New South Wales, apart from the Snowy Mountains area, and accordingly, ori the new basis the ratios become twothirds to New South Wales and one-third to Victoria. It is pointed out that practically the whole of the water used in the power development will come from New South ·Wales catchments.

-36

16. INVESTIGATIONS FOR: BASIC DESIGN DATA

THE examination of the possibilities of power development in the Snowy Mountains area, covering over 2,000 square miles of country, has necessitated a great deal of close study and intensive work.

One of the most difficult tasks was the assessing of the distribution of available surface water over this large area. Accurate records were available at relatively few ·gauging stations, and even fewer stations had records going back over many years. However, from a. study of the existing data and the obtaining of some indication of a correlation between height, exposure and precipitation, a preliminary indication of water run-off was obtained. Before any intelligent study could be made of the power potential of various areas, particularly those at the higher altitudes, and the economics of development of power therefrom, it was necessary to have a knowledge of local water yields. To satisfy this requirement a map was prepared showing estimated lines of equal run-off, and the anticipated intensities of the run-offs. This map, shown as Plate No.9, must at this stage be considered as a tentative approximation only, but is believed to be a rather outstanding achievement in analytical study of scanty data.

. Studies had to be made of the load characteristics of the two States to which the power would be supplied, and the .probable growth in demand in the future, and consideration given us to what ratios the capacities of thehydro-electric stations should bear .to the capacities

of the existing and future thermal stations. In this regard it should be noted that, with the seasonal variation in the rivers as is normal in most Australian

. streams, it appears most economical to operate the hydro stations for the upper portions of the power demand curves in the large State systems, and the complementary -steam stations more for the base loads. In addition, a determination had to be made of the value which could be placed on the power supply from the proposed hydro-electric stations. as a guide to economic develop. ment as well as for comparison with other forms of power generation.

The investigations included also the close examination of existing aerial photographs obtained from the RA.A.F. in conjunction with the inadequate maps of the area, studies of alternative layouts, the determination of required capacities and dimensions for various parts of the schemes. This was particularly arduous in determining the size and length of collecting races that it was economical" to develop. Preliminary quantities and estimates had to be prepared, and in some instances completely amended, as 'further information was obtained.

After a complete power system had been planned it was necessary to check its operation against the records of past years to prove its soundness in conception and to establish its output, This work in itself was quite a considerable task.

17. FIELD WORK COVERED BY INVESTIGATIONS

THE following is a brief summary of the field work that was carried out for the Committee, and which, with the data previously available, has formed the basis of the Report:-

(a) SURVEYS.

It was realised at the start that, with the present shortage of surveyors, the very limited time available, the rugged and timbered character of much of the country, and the relative inaccessibility of the area, particularly in winter months, it would be extremely difficult to complete evert the minimum of surveys required. It was found possible, however,. to arrange for the Army Survey Directorate to carry out considerable field work to assist the investigations, and the Army surveyors were able to run lines of surveys up. a number of river valleys where the levels were of utmost importance to the location of the tunnels and storages. They· also contoured certain essential areas and correlated the levels on both sides of the Range.

As aerial photographs were available for most of the area investigated, the levels established by the Army were of particular value as control points for the

photographs. .

In later investigations, Government surveyors from New South Wales and Victoria were able to continue the work, contouring storage sites; running levels and fixing controls in additional areas. In this way detailed surveys

were made of the Spencer Creek Dam site and storage basin, and of the Adaminaby Dam site, while a partial

.survey was made of the storage formed by this dam, and the previous Hndabyne Dam surveys were extended to higher levels. Reconnaissance surveys were made of storages on the Snowy and Gungarlin Rivers, and also for the Upper Tumut and Tooma Diversions, and for the tunnel -lines from the Eucumbene to the Tumut, as well as for the dam at Lob's Hole.

Arrangements were made for the whole of the Snowy Mountains Area to be photographed from the air by planes carrying the latest type of cameras suitable for the development of contoured plans by machine drafting. Although the aerial survey has commenced and the drafting from the earlier photographs is in hand, the complete survey, including the fixing of the ground controls necessary, will take a considerable time to complete. In general, plans with 50 feet contours will be produced, although some will indicate contoured intervals down to 20 feet, and even to 10 feet for special areas, and in the latter extra ground controls will be established.

(h) GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS.

The geological investigations have had to be limited to surface examinations only, except for one or two places in the Upper Murrumbidgee to Lob's Hole section where some comparatively shallow mining workings were

37

available, as it 'was not possible to carry out any borings except on the sites proposed for the Adaminaby and Spencer Creek Dams. Further, the geologists were not able to go over the whole of the tunnels and race lines in the time available, as much of the country to be traversed is very rocky and inaccessible, particularly in winter. Where surface examination has not been possible,use has been made of aerial photographs, which of course were studied for" other areas as well, to pick up certain geological features.

It would appear that about 25 miles of the SnowyMurray tunnel will be in granitic rocks, while at the depth of the tunnels, some of the balance of four miles, which appear to be in metamorphics from surface indications, may also be in granite.

The conditions. for these tunnels should be comparatively good; some water infiltration must be expected but it is considered that the inflow encountered should not serious affect construction, and lining of them should not be necessary, unless for reducing' frictions, except for short sections close to portals or adjacent. to some faults and at a few other disturbed areas.

In the Upper Snowy River area the geological indications are that although the top race lines (a considerable proportion of which may have to be in flume) and Spencer Creek Dam are likely to be costly undertakings, the proposals are practicable, while the remaining dams, tunnels and race lines should offer no unusual problems.

- The position in respect of the Tumut portion of the scheme is not so clear in regard to the features that are likely to be encountered in driving the tunnels, as although granite may be expected for a considerable proportion of their . length (and for more. than is indicated on the surface), a very varied collection of rock ·types must be' expected for the balance. These will probably consist largely of metamorphics - quartzites, slates and sandstones - as well as conglomerates, shales, lavas, tuffs,' phyllites, basalt dykes. and porphyry and amphibole sills .. In some of the latter rocks, -a comparatively heavy influx of water appears probable and more lining will probably be necessary than with the lindabyne-Murray.tunnel. The area definitely needs a more thorough and deeper investigation before the tunnel lines are finally decided on, as, although the present lines appear quite practicable, better ones. may be obtained. Although extensive limestone beds exist in the area, it would seem that these should not be encountered in the tunnel lines as now proposed.

The' diversion from the Tooma to the Tumut appears quite straight-forward, with granite occurring for most if not all of the tunnel length. The collecting races for the Tooma will probably also be mostly in granite country.

The dam sites at Adaminaby, Tantangara and Lob's Hole, and the two pond sites on the Upper Tumut all appear reasonably good, with reliable satisfactory rock foundations comparatively close to the surface, while no trouble seems indicated over their storage areas.

Summing up, the geological" reconnaissances have revealed no features that engineering ingenuity could not overcome. Conditions naturally vary considerably over such an extensive area as that concerned and; although

a large influx of water must he expected in some of the tunnel lines, the geologists consider that the. difficulties of the area should be less than were encountered on similar projects in other parts of the world, where, in many cases, gigantic mountain-building movements have occurred in comparatively recent geological times.

(c) BORINGS.

The only boring carried out was on the sites of the dams proposed, on Spencer Creek and Adaminaby., These proved that at the former the site was in a probable old glacial valley, with a considerable amount of .dehris overlying a solid rock foundation, making it a costly one for storage. On the other hand, at Adaminaby, on the Eucumhene River, the borings indicated a very suitable site for the main dam. At this· location the quartzite outcrop on. the right bank of the river is loose and jointed near the surface, but comparatively solid, although finely jointed, at a moderate depth, after which it. merges into the underlying granite. Excavation to the granite should not be required, but some grouting of the quartzite· would appear to be necessary from the observations made during the boring. On the left bank, the quartzites are strong and solid right to the surface, and therefore were not bored, but further to the east on the same side bores were put down on a saddle that occurs in the ridge. These showed that shales and slates, overlying the quartzites, occurred at this site and that a low earth dam would probably be more suitable than a concrete wall.

Negotiations were in progress at the time of the Report for much more extensive boring, both along the tunnel lines and at the dam and pondage sites, with a view to. obtaining information for consideration of alternative designs.

(d) :IUVER GAUGINGS.

When the 1946 investigations were commenced there were few gauges operating in the Snowy Mountains Area, and of these some had been installed for a few years only (refer Section 18 - River Flow Data); none were located in the higher areas, where information on the stream flows was particularly important from the power aspect. Arrangements were made, therefore, for the provision of additional gauges, mostly in the upper areas; one was installed on the Upper Murrumbidgee; a second on the Mowainba, another on the Gungarlin, two on both Spencer Creek and the Upper Snowy, and three on the Geehi-Bogong Creek system (refer Plate No. 10). As indicated in Section 16, it was necessary, owing to lack of flow data from the .higher areas, to develop in the investigations, a method of arriving at run-offs from all parts of the catchments studied, and to correlate the flows so deduced from the river gaugings that were available in the lower reaches of the main streams. The new gauges, although they provide figures for the last few years only, were very valuable in giving the actual distribution data and thus providing a check on the run-off assumptions.

As time passes, the information from these gauges will be of fundamental importance to the final planning of the whole scheme.

38

18. RIVER .FLOW DATA

EARLY in the investigations, it became apparent that the data from rain gauging in the Snowy Mountains Area was of little value, except possibly for checking run-off figures assumed. The gauges were not only. few and scattered, but also most of them were in snow country, where the accurate measurement of precipitation is a difficult proposition. It was decided,

therefore, to ignore the rain gaugings and concentrate entirely on run-off and river flow figures. A limited amount of river flow data was available from a number of catchments draining away from the area to be investigated, but the figures were at -low level sites, and for relatively large areas, as is seen in the tables herewith.

River

Flow Gauge Location

Period of Records

From To

Crackenhack Eucumbene .

Indi (Upper Murray) Mowamba

Murray Murrumbidgee

M urrumhidgee

Snowy

Swampy Plains Swampy Plains Tooma

Tooma

Murray

The Creel June, 1944

Eastbourne June, 1944

Bringenbrong September, 1905

Upper Bridge February, 1908

Bringenbrong September, 1905

Yaouk February, 1939

Mittagong Crossing April, 1926

Jindabyne May, 1902

Khancoban December, 1926

Bringenhrong September, 1905

Possum Point January, 1927

Warbrook August, 1909

Jingellic ·1891

To date

To date December, 1920 November, 1909 December, 1920 December, 1945 To date

To date

To' date December, 1913 December, 1945 December, 1920 To date

Note that data from the Gnngarlin (Snowy Plains) and Tumnt (Talbingo) gauges was also used later in producing the information in Plate No.9.

The average flows for the above stations with which

the investigations were concerned, adjusted where the figures were considered unreliable to bring them into agreement with more reliable gangings for other stations on the same river system, are as follows:-

Accuracy of Catchment Average
River At Cauging Sq. Miles Annual Yield
Figures Acre Feet
Murray Jingellic Considered reliable 2,515 1,900,000
Murray Bringenbrong Adjusted 827 988,000
Above Bringen-
Murray lrong Considered reliable 490 400.000
Swampy
Plains Bringenbrong Adjusted 337 588,000
Swampy
Plains Khancoban Considered reliable 223 510,000
Tooma Warbrook Considered reliable 735 594,000
Tooma Possum Point Considered reliable 199 387,000
Snowy Jindabyne Considered reliable 730 950,000
Crackenback Creel Adjusted 99 215,000
Eucumbene Eastbourne .Adjusted 288 195,090 It was felt that the information from these gauging stations was of little value in itself for arriving at the power potentialities of the upper reaches of the streams, hut would be most valuable in checking any assumptions made of the probable yields from the relatively small areas at the heads of the catchments where the main power possibilities existed.

In the next table the catchments are dissected as much as possible to facilitate a comparison of. the average run-offs, both from corresponding portions of adjacent catchments and from different parts of the same catchment. As the flow figures indicate, there is a great variation of the run-off within the upper catchments of adjoining areas.

Catchment Area Adopted Average
River From To Sq.M. Yield Run-off
Ac. Ft. Feet
1. Swampy
Plains Source Khancobar.. 223 510,000 3.59
2. Swamp.y "Khancoban
Plains Bringenbrong 1]4 78,000 1.07
3. Murray or
Indi Source Bringenbrong 490 400,000 1.27
4. Tooma Source Possum Point 199 387,000 3.04
5. Tooma Possum Point Warbrook 536 207,000 .0.60
6. Snowy
(Central
Area) Source Jindabyne .343 540,000 2.46
7. Eucumbene Source Eastbourne 288 195,000 ~ l.06
8. Crackenback Source Creel 99 215,000 3.40 As the run-offs in the different catchments were so variable, and as there were insufficient precipitation figures to be of any help - and even those being too unreliable - it was decided that some reasonable method of assessing the run-offs of any part of a catchment was necessary, and as a result the map showing estimated lines of equal run-off, referred to in Section 16 (Plate No.9), was -arrived at.

In developing this map the likely causes of. variation in run-off, such as differences in height, location in relation to prevailing moisture-laden winds, and relative heights of adjacent country, were studied, and a formula evolved to cover their effects: In the course of the study the following table was produced, giving the areas of the catchments at various thousand-foot levels.

Areas at Various Levels (Square Miles) Total
2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Area
Catchment Under to to to to to (Iver Sq.
2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 7000 Miles
._-_. .--~-
l. Swampy
Plains 26.1 38.4 43.0 38.9 58.6 17.5 0.5 223
2. Swampy
Plains 47.0 30.4 18.6 13.7 4.3 114
3. Murray 71.4 118.7 123.9 1463 27.6 2.1 490
4 .. Tooma 31.6 45.5 39.7 56.0 25.ri 0.7 199
5. Tooma 214.0 248.2 58.4. 15.4 536
6. Snowy i2.8 118.8 . 93.5 92.3 25.3 0.3 343
7. Eucumbene 138.5 125.3 24.2 288
8. Cracken-
back 1.0 21.9 33.1 35.1 7.8 0.1 99 It was noted that the run-offs from the catchments were not directly proportional to the areas at different elevations, but that there seemed to be some relationship between them and a power of from 2 to 3 of the height. It was obvious, however, that other factors were involved, and after considerable reasoned study of the problem, factors were evolved to make allowance for the distance of the centre of catchment from the main ridge, for the direction of the weather and for the shielding of intermediate high grounds, etc. The formulae produced, which of course are only applicable to the particular conditions of the area under consideration, were tried out for the various catchments, and the results gave figures remarkably close to the measured flows in the streams. The formulae were adopted, therefore, for producing the lines of equal run-off shown in Plate No.' 9, and from these lines the total run-offs were calculated for comparison with actual measurements, and any adjustments found necessary made to the' lines

of equal run-off on the map.

The map when corrected in this way was used for computing the .likely collection by the various race lines and for the probable stream flows in the Upper Snowy . Areas.

. As a check on this method of computing run-offs, a comparison was made with figures taken out for the same areas by the State Electricity Commission, and, based on the isohyets available, interpreted with their knowledge of the meteorological conditions in the Bogong Area of Victoria.' There was found to be a reasonable agreement between the two sets of figures, andit was considered therefore that the method adopted 'in arriving at likely water quantities in the upper region was sufficiently accurate for the investigations being made, and that more accurate figures would be obtained later hy the additional gauges recently installed, or to be installed, in the higher areas {refer Plate No. 10).

40

,19. PRESENT STATE OF INVESTIGATIONS

THE Committee desires to make it clear that, although they have fulfilled their mission of establishing the, best use, in general, for the waters of th€' Snowy River, and in addition have indicated comprehensive schemes for power development, they have been able to carry out only preliminary work, and to submit a general plan for development. The degree of accuracy achieved to date has been ample for the preliminary studies, but is by no means adequate for the complete

designing of the development. All the work done to date must be extended and amplified, possibly the. proposals varied to some extent, and present approximations brought to a JIigher degree of accuracy before

detailed design work'<can begin. ,

At, this stage then, the work has been handed on to the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, which has now been established, for final planning, design and construction.

20. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IN carrying out its investigation, the Committee had to cover a very wide field. In this it was greatly assisted by the able and generous co-operation given by the Departments and Instrumentalities of the Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victorian Governments.' In particular, it desires to acknowledge the work carried 'out and the information supplied by the following authorities:-

COlIlll1onwealth-

Department of Works and Housing.

Survey Directorate, Department of the Army. Bureau of Mineral Resources (Department of

Shipping and Fuel) .

New South WalesElectricity Authority. Department of Public Works.

Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission. Department of Mines.

Victoria-

State Electricity Commission of Victoria. State Rivers and Water Supply Commission. Mines Department.

The three Governments concerned made available certain technical officers for continuing (though not, of

course, continuous), work on some of the most important aspects of the whole investigation. These were:R. B. Lewis, B.Sc., E.C.E., E.M.E., M.LG.E.,

M.LE. (Aust.) ,

Director of Engineering,

Department of Works and Housing.

E. F. Rowntree, D.F.C., B.Sc., E.Mech.E., A.M.LE. (Aust.},

Engineer for Major Investigations, Department of Works and Housing.

H. E. Dann, E.Mech.E., A.M.LE. (Aust.), Supervising Engineer, Investigations, Electricity Authority,

'New South Wales.

G. A. Whitfeld, B.E., A.MJ.C.E., A.M.I.E. (Aust.), Supervising Engineer,

Department of Public Works,

New South Wales.

T. Olsen, Dip.Eng. (Bergen), Investigation Engineer,

State Electricity Commission of Victoria.

The work done by these officers reached a very high technical standard, and. the Committee desires to give special acknowledgment to their effort. They worked as a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. R. B. Lewis, who also acted as Executive Officer of the Main Committee, and did outstanding work in both capacities.

All members of the Committee are III agreement regarding the substance of this Report, and their signatures are appended hereto.

Commonwealth-

L. F. Loder, Chairman.

New South Wales-

J~ M. Main.

A. S. Brown.

F. H. Brewster.

V. J. F. Brain.

Victoria-" -

L. R. East.

E. Bate.

A. L. Calbraith.

41

APPENDIX II

DEMAND STORAGE AND TOTAL FIRM CAPACITY

GENERAL REMARKS

THE principles adopted in arriving at the TOTAL FIRM CAPACITY to he developed hy the proposal' to divert the Snowy River, at Jindabyne, into the, River Murray, and at the DEMAND STORAGE required for this capacity are set out in Section A herewith. The notes ate taken from Appendix IV of the 1948 Technical Report of the Hydro-Electric Sub-committee to the Main Commonwealth and State Snowy River Committee, and are based on the assumptions at the time, viz., that the Snowy, 'Yl!ls to be wholly diverted to the Murray (the pr oposa] for the diversion of the Eucumhene to the Tumut had not then been adopted) , and that the storage at Jindabyne was to be operated primarily for regulation

of water for irrigation requirements. The work given in Section B of this Appendix follows on that of Section A, dealing also with the diversion of the Snowy to the Murray, hut taking into account the reduced volume of the Snowy diversion following the adoption of the Tumut scheme, and also that the storage at Jindabyne can ');Ie reserved wholly, for hydro-electric requirements.

The development of the hydro potential of the tumut scheme was on similar lines to the Snowy-Murray portion of the scheme, and the details are not, therefore, included herewith.

SECTION A

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

(1) The hydro-electric schemes (S) dealt with in this report are assumed to be operated in a combined ,future system of the S

capacity --.

0.3 ,

(2) The', daily :and seasonal variations in loading in the combined future system are 'assumed to be similar to those observed for the three last years of normal operation of the observed for the last three years of normal operation of the State Electricity Commission System, namely, 1942, 1943 and

1944, and indicated by their load duration curves. '

(3) For the purpose of determining "demand output," it has been assumed that the monthly load duration curves for the future system will be similar, to the envelope of the three sets of load duration curves (2), wbile for the purpose of determining "marketable output," an average duration curve has been used.

. .

(4) In order to avoid conflict between power and irrigation interests, it has been assumed that the total, demand storage for the final hydro-electric schemes dealt with in this report will be located at the highest practicable elevation (Spencer Creek and Windy Creek), thereby reducing the quantity of water held in demand storage to minimum. It is, however, considered safe to assume that the demand storage can be temporarily located' at lower levels (Jindabyne, etc.) for the first stages of development, and also in parts 'for short periods in the Spring for the final development.

(5) It has been assumed that the demand storage should be large enough to secure the "demand output" during an extreme drought, very much drier than anv observed during the 46 years of flow records at Jindabyne. The" period tentatively selected as critical is a synthetic year with each month taken as the driest on record. and this results in a yearly run-off at Jindabvne of approximately half of the observed yearlv flow during the driest year on record. This assumption is therefore extremely conservative.

, (6) For the purpose of determining "demand output," it has been assumed that the capacity of all steam plant available for service in the system is reduced during off peak months. as overhaul is generally intensified during such months, This. of course, corresponds to the period of reduced system load. As. however. a similar proportion of the hydro-electric plant will remain stationary during the same period. and as this plant can be brought up from stationary to full load in several minutes, this stationary plant capacity can lake the place of the "spinning

reserve" which is normally held in a steam system as a margin against increase in load above that forecast. This "spinning reserve" is taken to. be 5% of the monthly maximum demand.

Taking this into consideration, the capacity available for base operation during periods in which the hydro stations are on demand operation will be as set out in the following table-No. 1.

TABLE NO.1

Outputfrom natural flow in MWM
Month
Synthetic year Year 1909
January - .. ... ." 35·4 62·5
February . -. - .. ... 35·8 49'9
March . _. ... ... 19·0 105·1
April ... ... ... 39·4 191·7
May ... . .. ... 45·4 238·0
June _.- p' •• .,. 95·7 1,004-0
July _.- ... ., . 94·2 304·5'
August . -. . - . ... 89,3 728·7
September ... ... 293·1 595'8
October ... ... 192·9 903·4
November ... ... 133·5 358·8
December ... ... 49·0 159·9 As .the "spinning reserve" is very rarely called upon, the influence of using stationary hydro plant for such purpose on the operation of storages will be entirely negligible.

"Demand output" for various capacities of the Snowy Scheme:

"Demand output" here means the minimum output required from the Snowy Scheme when operated "on peak" in accordance with assumption (6) in a system as indicated in assumptions (1) and (2). These demand outputs, as determined in accordance with' assumption (3), are shown in Table No.2 attached. (Page,7.)

Output from natural flow during critical period for the Snowy-Murray- Scheme: .

For the "critical period", selected in accordance with assumption (5), the output from natural flow for the selected layout has been deduced from the flow records at Jindabyne .with results as shown in the' following table-No.3.

53

TABLE- NO.2

I

I

4501 500

1,500 1,666

195711959

550 600 - 650 I 700

1,83312,000 2,166 2,330 1961196211964- 1966

Capacity of Snowy in!

MW .. __ .',

System capacity in

MW ...

Year of full develop-

ment ...

800 850 900 950 1,000 I ,050 I , 100 I, 150 1,200

7501 2,500 1968

2,666 2,833 3,000 3,16613,333 1970 11971 1 1973/1974 1976

3,500 3,666 3,B33 4,000 1977 1979 1980 1982 I

Month _

Demand output in MW months

I 49'31 71·9 74·2 57·0 76·5 75-9 81-2 7.2-6 43·8 64·5 47·6 64·6

54-8 60-4 80·0 88-3 82·5 91-0 63·2 69-8 85·0 93-6 84·5 93·1 89·9 99·6 80·7 89·1 48·8 53·8 71·8 79·2 52-9 58·5 71-9 79·3

65'9 96·5 99·3 76·4 102-7 102-0 108-5 97-2 58·8 86·6 63·9 86·6

73'9 76'7 81·6 103'9 112'0 119·4 107·5 115'8 123·2 82·5 -88,7 94·4

110'7 119'3 127· I 110-1 118'4 126·5 116-6 126-5 134-6 105-8 113-2 120-9 63·5 68·5 73·0

93'31100'8 107·4 69'1 74'6179'4 93· I ,100'7107'4

January _

February . __

March .. -

April ...

May __ . . ..

June., . ...

July... .

August .

September ... October ... November . __ December ..;

TABLE NO.3

, 1
Month OutPUt from natural flow in Month
MW months--c.ritical period
January ... --- 38·8 103-2 July
February ... --- 39·2 97·0 August
March ... --- 20·7 321 - 3 September
April ... --- 43·0 210-0 October
May ... --- 49·8 H6·3_ November
June ... ---j 104·7 53·4 December 98·1 103·7 143·1 151·8 147'3 156·6 113·4 120·0 152·4 161·5 151-6 160·6 161-3 171'3 144·8 153-3 87·5 92-8 128·8 136-3 95·3 100·9 128·9 136·6

I

87·6 127·8 132·1 101-3 136-2 135-5 144·6 129'6 78·3

115·0 85·1 115·1

93·1 135·6 140·2 107·6 144·5 143-5 153-2 137·2 83·0

122·1 90·4 122·2

120·0 125·7 131·5 175·2 183-2 192:0 180·5 189-1 198-2 138·7 145·4 152-1 186·7 195·1 204-3 185·7 194·2 203·2 198·0 207-1 216-7 176·5 185·1. 193-7 107-0 112·0 117·3 157-4 164'7 172·4 116-2 121'6 126·9 157·9 165·0 172·9

109'7 160'0 165'0 126·6 170'3 169· I 180'9 161'4 97'7

143-8 106·2 144'2

114·4 167·2 173·0 132·4 178·1 177·2 188·5 170·0 102-0 150·3 111·0 150·3

Demand storage capacity at Spencer Creek for various capacities of the Snowy-Murray Scheme:

The demand storage capacity will first be determined for the

following two cases:- --

(I) Total firm capacity of scheme = 800 MW_ (2) Total firm capacity of scheme- = 1,200 MW.

as representing probable lower - and upper limits of economic capacity. The calculations ere shown in - the following tableNo.4.

TABLE NO.4

-I
Demand output from Demand outpUt from
Output from natura' 800 MW scheme Draw on demand 1,200 MW scheme Draw on demand
Month (low during critical operated in 2,666 otorage (MW menchs} oper.toil in 4,000 storage (MW months]
period (MW months) MW system (MW (3)-(2) MW system (MW (5)-(2) -
months) months)
(I) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
September ... .- . 321·3 78-3 - 117·3 -
October __ . ... ... 210'9 115·0 - 172·4 -
- November 146'3 85·1 - 126·9 -
... ...
December ... ... 53·4 115-1 61·7 172·9 119,5
January ... ... 38·8 87-6 48·8 131·5 97..:7
February ___ ... ,,' 39'2 127-8 88·6 192·0 152·B
March . -- ... ... 20·7 132·1 111·4 198·2 177·5
April .. - _ .. ... 43-0 101·3 58·3 152-1 109·1
May ... --- ... 49-8 136·2 86·4 204-3 154·5
June ... --- ... 104-7 135·5 30-8 203·2 98,5.
July ... --- ... 103-2 146·6 43-4 216·7 113· 5
August ... --- --- 97·0 129·6 32-6 193·7 96·7
December-August incl. 549·8 1 1,111-8 562·0 1,664,6 1,114-8
" As the period of water deficiency remains the. same between

. the capacities investigated and while assumption (1) holds, there is a straight-lined relationship between demand storage capacity e~,), and- total firm capacity of scheme (p) and the differential

ds -- - - -

- remains constant and equal- to dp--;_'_'

-1,114.8 ---' 562.0 552.3

. ,:1,200 ;_ 800 400

As, furthermore, 1 MW month -of storage at Spencer Creek represents 133 ac, It., the difference in storage capacity will he 552_8 x 183 = 101,500 ac, ft.

ds

101,500 ac, ft.

------ = 0.253 -ac_ft./kW

and

dp 400,000 k W

and the relationship between (p) and (5) for the whole range is shown in the following table - No.5 .

54

TABLE NO.5

i I I I I
Capacity of scheme in MW 800 I 850 I 900 I 950 1,000 1,050. 1,100 1,150 1,200
Demand storage capacity in I I I
. ac, ft. x 103 ... ... 103 115·6 I 129·2 141·8 154·4 167'0 179'6 192·2 /.204'8 Costs of demand storage:

·The estimates of cost for the Spencer Creek dam are considered reasonably firm up to about R.L. 5,820 as the site for the main dam has been drilled and surveyed. When this level is reached, however, the subsidiary dam has become a structure of considerable magnitude (70 ft. high and 1,800 ft. long), and, as this site has not been drilled and only partly surveyed, the total cost of storage becomes more and more uncertain as F.S.L.

of storage increases. When R.L. 5,860 is reached, suflicient survey information is not available to show even the length of the subsidiary dam, and from this level onwards the estimates of cost are more uncertain still. From R.L. 5,820 two cost curves have been plotted, one showing what is considered a "safe" upper limit, and the other showing what might be considered the more probable costs. This results in two sets of differential storage costs, as shown in the following table-No.6.

TABLE NO.6

Differentia~ (ott of storage in £ per ac, (t. Differenti a 1 cost of .torag. in £ per ae, ft.
f.S.L f.S.L.
storage I "probable" storage I "probable"
"$afe" "safe"
I
(I) (2) I (3) (I) (2) (3)
R.L5,760 89 I 73 R.L.5,840 70 44
5,780 I 63 I 54 I 5,860 I 92 47
5,800 51 50 5,880 122 52
5,820 57 44 5,900 164 64 Cost of residual "civil works":

The residual "civil works" consist of pondages, tunnels, surge tanks, pressure tunnels, power stations .and plant (including .

generators) . .

The differential cost for these items will probably remain very nearly constant over the whole range selected.

. Considering steps of 50 MW in scheme capacity, incremental costs are determined as follows:-

For the sake of simplicity, assume the 'incremental capacity of 50 MW distributed over the stations 1, 2L, 3, 6 and 7 pro rata to net heads, then the maximum discharge for all these stations will be increased by 151 cusecs. As, however, the average flow over the stations would be very little affected, the flow determining the average loss of head would probably be in the order of 100 cusecs and the corresponding increase in crosssect'onal area would .be approximately 20 sq. ft. at a cost of £2.45 per foot. As the total length of tunnel affected is approximately 152,000 ft., the differential tunnel cost becomes

£2.45 x 152,000 x 3;75 .

--------= £0.208 per kW. p.a,

100 x 50,000

Pondages

Three pondages will be affected and each pondage will have

151 .

to be increased by -- = 75.5 ac, ft. for each 50 MW scheme 2

capacity.

Assuming £1,000 per ac. ft., the differential cost on pondages will be-

£1,000 x 75.5 x 3 x 4.5 ------~-- £0.202 per kW. p.a.

100 x 50,000

Pressure Tunnels (Shift Section)

As the velocity is approximately twice as high as in the unlined tunnels, the difference in cross-sectional area will be approximately 10 sq. ft. per 50 MW. The corresponding differential annual charge per 1,000 ft. of tunnel IS estimated to be approximately £270 or a total for the scheme of

1,750

270 x 6.5 = £1,750 or -- = £0.035 per k W p.a, 50,000

Intakes, screens, gates, valves, surge tanks, power station for these items assume; say, £0.100 per kW p.a,

Turbo-generators: £8 x6.5

For these items, assume ---- = £0.52 per kW p.a,

100

The total differential charge on "residual civil works" then becomes-

£0.28 + 0.202 + 0.035 + 0.1 + 0.52 = £1.137 per k W p.a,

Other costs and values varying with the capacity of the Scheme:

(1) There will be some increase in operation costs as the capacity increases, but the differential cost will be quite small, probably not exceeding say £0.05 per kW p.a.

(2) As the capacity of the scheme increases, the elevation of F.S.L. of the demand storage increases, and also the elevation of . the diversion race lines. As· a consequence the catchment areas drained by the race line will decrease and the diverted flows and corresponding outputs will also decrease. At the same time the average overall~ead of the scheme will increase, thereby partly cancelling this effect. As the output from natural flow during the critical period is similarly affected, the demand storage requirements will also increase slightly. Sufficient survey information is not, at present,· available for a reasonably close determination of these combined effects, but it is safe to say

that it will not exceed £0.1 per kW p.a, '

(3) As the capacity of the scheme increases the fuel storage capacity required in order to carry the system over a series of dry years will increase or, alternatively, the fuel production capacity will have to be increased and operated with a somewhat reduced load factor with possible increase in fuel cost.

These costs will be further investigated later but have for the present been tentatively fixed at £0.35 per kW· -p.a,

The total for "other differential charges" will therefore be £0.05 + 0.1 + 0.35 = £0.5 per, k W p.a,

Determination of the economic capacity of· the

, Scheme: .'.

The various factors influencing the economic capacity·~r' the Snowy-Murray Scheme can now be summarized as shown' in Table No.7.

55

~

. .' . . '.' . '. .~: :k~~~~~i~:;-;+;1.

TABLE NO.7

I. Capacity of Snowy-Murray
Scheme in MW ... ... 900 950 1,000 1,050 1,100 1,150 1,200
2. Differential capital cost of
demand storage (see Table 6)
in £ per ac. ft. ... ... 68 74 80 88 96 105 . us
3. Differential annual charges for
demand storage in £ kW
12,600 x (2) x 4·5
50,000 x 100
= (2) x 0·0113 ... ... 0·769 0·838 0'905 0·995· 1·086 1·187 1·300
4. Differential annual charges for
"residual civil works" in £
perkW p.a .... ... .... 1·137 1·137 1'137 1·137 1·137 1·137 1'137
5. "Othe r differential charges" 0·500 0·500 0'500 0·500 0·500 0·500 0·500
6. Total differential charges in £
per kW p.a, (3)+(4)+(5) ... 2·41 2·48 2·54 2·63 2·72 2·82 2·94
7. Annual savings per kW £3 ·94
-(6) ... ... .. . 1·53 [·46 1·40 1·31 1·22 1·12 1'00
8. Year in which scheme is as- 1973 1974 1976 1977 1979 1980 1982
surned fully developed ...
9. Conversion factor ... . .. 1·105 1·141 1'220 1·261 1·346 1·390 I 1·487
10. Cas h val u e of savi ngs by 1970 I I
in £ per kW p.a.-(7): (9) ... 1·385 1·277 1'148 1·032 I 0·907 0·805 0·673
I From Table No. 7 it will be seen that the economic limit is not reached even with a capacity of 1,200 MW, and that the range covered by the investigation was not wide enough. The values in (IO) of Table 7 indicate. however, that the economic limit will be reached for a capacity of about 1,400 MW and it is quite possible and even probable that such a great capacity will be found economical, but a very great deal of field and office work is still required before this question can be finalized.

At tbis stage of the investigations, it is considered wise to understate the economic capacity, as this method is regarded as a first approximation.

For the purpose of this report it has, therefore, been assumed that the firm capacity of the Snowy-Murray Scheme will be 1,100 MW and that the demand storage capacity will be 1,000 MW months corresponding to 183,000 ac. ft. located at Spencer Creek.

l\iEmOD OF OPERATING STORAGES - SNOWY-MURRAY SCHEME

IT was shown in the foregoing that the capacity required to be held in demand storage at Spencer Creek at the beginning of the dry season (December), in order to meet Demand requirements during extreme droughts would be 1,000 M.W. Months, or 183,000 ac, ft. As the season advances, however, the demand storage can be reduced without affecting the factor of safety of supply.

To what extent this can be done is found by trials and, based on these, perfectly inflexible rules for operation of. the storages must be adopted. In the case of the present proposals, the following rules have been tested by means of paper operation of the scheme, based on 42 years of flow records at Jindabyne

(1906-1947) . .

Rule No.1:

The storage to be held at Spencer Creek, in normal periods,

to vary as shown in the following table: '

Each monthly limit is referred to as "the mark."

Storage to be held at Spencer Creek

Stonge to be held at end of Month Seer-age to be held at end of Month
Month Month -
.. .. MW-Months Ac. Ft . MW-Months Ac. Fe.
January ... ... ... 950 174,000 July ... .. . .. . ... 450 82,000
Febr.uary ~ .... .. , ... 850 156,000 August '" ... ... 400 73,000
March . : .. ... ... 750 137,000 September ... ... .. . 800 146,000
April ... ... ... 650 119,000 October ... ... . .. 1,000 183,000
May ... ... ... SSO 101,000 November ... . .. . .. 1,000 183,000
, June ... ... ... ... 500 91,000 December ... . .. ... I 1,000 183,000 56