Lake Nillahcootie

Water Storage Levels

Last Updated: 04/12/2008
31.06%
 33.18%
 31.43%
 30.81%
 30.56%
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Current Volume 12346
% of Capacity 30.56
Capacity (ML) 40400
Graph: Historical water levels...

Recreational Facilities

Large Grassed Area Car Parking Boat Ramp BBQ Toilets

Facts & Figures

Name Lake Nillahcootie
Stream Broken River
Year of Completion 1967
Construction Earth and Rockfill
Full Supply Level 264.5 m AHD
Capacity 39,950 ML
Area Submerged 530 ha
Main Embankment Length 791 m
Main Embankment Height 34 m
Hydro-electric Generation nil MW

About Lake Nillahcootie

 

Location

Lake Nillahcootie is situated on the Broken River in north-eastern Victoria, 36km south of Benalla.  The name Nillahcootie is of Indian origin and reputedly means ‘Blue House'.

History Lek Nillahcootie

The storage was built in 1967 by the Rural Water Commission as part of a program to assure water supply in northern Victoria.

Operations 

Lake Nillahcootie was constructed to harness the flows of the Broken River to meet irrigation, domestic and stock, and urban water supply requirements.

In previous years when Lake Nillahcootie was assured of filling to capacity, water could be released in accordance with a target volume determined for filling Lake Mokoan. This operation optimised water harvesting between the two storages and would normally occur during winter and spring months.  With the decommissioning of Lake Mokoan, this will no longer be required in the future.

The main spillway at Lake Nillahcootie features a unique Gothic arch-shaped crest that allows the discharge of 117,000 ML/d - equivalent to the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool passing the spillway every two seconds.

The storage also features a secondary spillway that is operated only during severe floods. It uses the ‘fuse plug' principle, in which a section of earthen embankment within the secondary spillway (the fuse plug) has been designed so that at a predetermined flood level it will be eroded away and increase the discharge through the spillway.

Recreation and Tourism at Lake Nillahcootie

Facilities Available

Large Grassed Area Large Grassed Area
Car Parking Car Parking
Boat Ramp Boat Ramp
BBQ BBQ
Toilets Toilets

Further Information

Lake Nillahcootie is situated on the Broken River , 36 km south of Benalla.  The dam was built in 1968.  Together with Lake Mokoan , its water supplies are used for irrigation and stock supply.

Lake Nillahcootie is a popular place for fishing, swimming and boating.  It also has excellent picnic facilities and an attractive lawn area near the dam.  Access to the Lake foreshore is restricted as most of the land is privately leased.  Camping is not permitted around the foreshore of the lake.  Picnic and boating areas are open to the public from 8.00am to sunset daily.

Boats can be launched from the main boat ramp. Click on the link below for a boating map of the lake.

Visitors are advised to be aware of the dangers associated with low water levels and exercise caution.

 

Click to enlarge the boating map of Lake Nillahcootie below.

Click to enlarge