The Ideas and the Beginning.

When European settlers first explored the Snowy Mountains in 1835, they quickly realised that there was a huge potential supply of irrigation water, which was pouring towards the Southern Ocean. The widespread drought of the 1880's made people think again about diverting this water to the dry inland but good seasons followed so everyone stopped talking about it. When Canberra was chosen as the site for the new capital, the planners needed a nearby power source and had the idea that power for the city could be generated by hydro-electricity. This was the beginning of the plan for a dual-purpose irrigation and power scheme in the Snowy Mountains. Finally in 1949, the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Power Act was passed. This established the Snowy Mountains Authority as the organisation that would investigate, design and build the scheme. Its main purpose was to divert, store and release water; and to generate electricity on demand by using the water to drive the turbines. The water was then to be released to the Murray and Murrumbidgee River Systems for irrigation.

As the water is diverted inland, it races 800 metres down the mountain through huge pipes, powering turbines which in turn drive the generators to produce electricity. The amount of electricity generated depends on the distance the water falls and the volume of water flowing through the turbines.

The Authority does not have control of the water after it is released into the river systems. From this point the States take over; the Murray-Darling Basin for the Murray and the Department of Land and Water Conservation for the Murrumbidgee River.

Total Catchment Management

The Snowy Mountains Authority is very concerned with water quality and is actively involved in the Total Catchment Management approach to land and water quality. In the old days, grazing in the summer leases by cattle and sheep threatened the purity of water in the catchment area of the Snowy Mountains.

Today, people place pressure on the ecosystem. Three million visitors pass through the mountains each year. The Scheme's reservoirs and lake foreshores are becoming increasingly popular with tourists' recreational activities, such as sailing, fishing and water skiing. This affects the quality of the water. The Authority cooperates with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, local government, farmers and tourist operators in developing plans to manage the area.

Fruit, vegetables, rice, grapes for wine and pasture for lambs are grown in the irrigation areas. Water releases managed by the Snowy Mountains Scheme can also help in the fight against drought and flood. Australia is one of the driest continents (only Antarctica is drier) so water is the concern of us all. It is the life blood of our Nation and we must decide how to use it wisely.