Ross River - Townsville / Thuringowa. North Qld

Ross River Dam (Lake Ross)

LOCATED 15km south-west of Townsville, the Ross River Dam, aka Lake Ross, is the major source of water supply for the Townsville and Thuringowa cities. The dam was constructed at the junction of the Ross River and Five Head Creek. It was built to fulfil the two primary purposes of flood mitigation and water storage.

The Ross River Dam has a capacity of 214,000 megalitres covering approx 8000 hectares and has an earth rock embankment 7.5km in length with a concrete spillway. The maximum height of the embankment is 27 metres. The catchment area is 75 000 hectares.

Water from the Ross River Dam Pump Station supplies up to 232 megalitres to the Douglas Water Treatment Plant where the water undergoes aeration, sedimentation, rapid sand filtration and chlorination treatment processes before it is pumped to the Douglas Reservoir System where the water is then distributed to Townsville and Thuringowa.

Currently, the Ross River Dam remains closed to everyone except the local water skiing club, a situation that sorely needs to be rectified if the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa are to draw the major tourism revenue that other coastal regions enjoy to the north and south.
While the weirs downstream (Black, Gleesons & Aplins Weirs) are well stocked by the pro-active local Fish Stocking Group, these waters are never going to be a major barramundi fishing drawcard to rival Tinaroo, Peter Faust or Awoonga Dams. A relaxing of restricted reacreational access to Lake Ross could turn this situation around in a few short years. Here's hoping......................

Local Fish Restocking Group:
Twin Cities Fish Stocking Association Inc.
PO Box 692, Thuringowa Central Q 4817

View over Lake Ross	The Spillway	The weirs on the Ross River
Ross River Dam Map	Archerfish are a common sight in the Ross River	A healthy number of juvenile barra = big barra for the future!!

Click on any of the images above for a larger version

Related Links:
Water Weeds of Ross River
Water Level Link
Townsville Weather Radar image or loop