Ord River Diversion Dam

Values

The place is a good example of a concrete dam designed to store water for irrigation purposes for surrounding horticultural farms.

The place represents the initiative taken by the Public Works Department to open more land, through irrigation, to allow for more commercially viable farming land.

The place is associated with former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, who officially opened the dam in 1963.

Physical Description

The Diversion dam was built as part of the Stage I of the Ord River Project and is located about 6 kms west of the town of Kununurra and its purpose is to allow water to be diverted and regulated from the Ord River into the Ord Irrigation area. The dam consists of 20 radial gates mounted within a concrete framework and a wide spillway structure. The water is gravity fed into channels to service the area to the north of the town and is pumped into the Packsaddle Plains area to the south.

History

‘In 1941, the Western Australian government established a small experimental farm on the Ord River to investigate the potential of dam sites in the upper parts of the River. In 1945, this farm was abandoned when the Kimberley Research Station was established on Ivanhoe Plain, a joint federal/state initiative. Crop trials were carried out over the following 12 years and demonstrated under irrigation that sugar cane, rice, cotton, safflower and linseed could be successfully grown. By 1958 the Western Australian Government was convinced of the viability of an Ord Irrigation Scheme and commenced Stage 1 of the project.’ ‘The Ord Stage 1 development was completed in 1963 and consisted of the construction of the Kununurra Diversion Dam, irrigation, associated works and the development of the Kununurra township. The cost was approximately $20 million of which the Federal Government contributed $12 million. By 1966, 31 farms were being irrigated from the Diversion Dam, producing mainly cotton. This industry collapsed in 1974 because of chemical resistance to insect pests. By the early 1980’s irrigated agriculture had re-established on the basis of crops other than cotton. The original Ord River Irrigation scheme was for small family farms with current irrigation farming consisting of approximately 14 000 hectares of horticultural crops, pastures and recently sugarcane.’ ‘The dam was designed to serve an area of 30 000 acres. The project was designed and supervised by the Public Works Department of Western Australia, and Christiani and Nielson were the major contractors for the dam. The water level in the dam is regulated by 20 gates, approximately 16 metres by 10 metres and weighing 95 tons,. A pumping station and irrigation channels were also constructed. Once the dam was built, pumping was no longer necessary.’

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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