The Snowy Mountain Scheme’s original idea was to create an irrigation scheme. The water from the scheme would be sent down to farms through the murrumbidgee and murray rivers during times of drought. This water was from the snow on top of the mountains melting after winter. Usually this clean, fresh water would go straight out to the sea and would go to waste. The scheme was an important nation building project that helped power Australia after the Second World War and was made possible by people from all over the world.
Who were the people that worked on the scheme?
The people that worked on the snowy mountain scheme came from over 30 different countries. Almost all of these people were migrants, escaping from their homes in Europe just after the Second World War. There were people from all over the world; countries that had previously been at war with each other were now working together on this one project. In fact, migrants made up a total of 70% of the population of people working on the scheme. It was hard for some of the people to get used to life on the snowfields. The Italians were complaining that pasta shipped from Melbourne wasn’t as good as Italian pasta and that it tasted bad. The workers had to live with it, though because life for the people on the mountains was pretty harsh. The workers only had very basic amenities to live by. When the scheme was first started, the workers only had basic tents to live in with wind and snowfalls making living conditions very uncomfortable. Of the 100,000 people working on the project, 120 died in the 25 years it took to build. At any one time, at least 7,300 people were working on the project, which is considered an engineering wonder.
Why is the Snowy Mountain Scheme considered an engineering wonder?
The scheme is such a big engineering wonder because it consists of 16 major dams, 9 power stations, a pumping station and 225km of tunnels and aqueducts. The Snowy Mountain Scheme is a very important part of Australian history as a Nation building project. In all of its construction, only 2% of it is above the ground. That means that the rest (98%) of it is underground. The power stations of the scheme are Murray 1, Murray 2, Guthega, Blowering, Tumut 1, Tumut 2, Tumut 3, a mini power station in Jindabyne and one other mini power station, stretching over 5, 124 square kilometres.
Where is the Snowy Mountain Scheme?
The scheme is stretched over a whole area of dams, lakes, mountains and cities. Some of these cities are Canberra, Jindabyne, Cooma, Kiandra, Adaminaby, Dartmouth, Albury, Yarrawonga, Tumut, Narrandera, Wagga Wagga and Khancoban.
What are the scheme’s inputs and outputs?
The scheme’s major input is water. It flows down from the mountain tops after winter and gets caught in dams and reservoirs that were built to catch the water. From these dams and reservoirs, the water is transported through underground tunnels and aqueducts to create hydroelectricity. Hydroelectricity is one of the scheme’s outputs. This is a clean, resourceful electricity that causes no pollution at all and can be turned on almost instantly. One of the scheme’s other outputs is water. They send this water down the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers to farmers so they can water their crops to produce food and they can keep their livestock healthy and hydrated.