Little Para Reservoir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids South Para Reservoir |
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Little Para Reservoir. The image is looking towards the northwest. The built-up area in the bottom left corner is Greenwith. The dark dotted areas in the background are the northern suburbs of Adelaide, corresponding to the City of Playford centred around Elizabeth and the Adelaide Plains are further in the background.
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 South Para Reservoir
Location in South Australia
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| Location | South Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°44′38″S 138°43′28″E / 34.7439°S 138.7245°E |
| Type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | Australia |
| Surface area | 125 hectares (310 acres) |
| Water volume | 20,800 megalitres (16,900 acre⋅ft) |
The Little Para Reservoir is a large reservoir located in South Australia. It plays an important role in supplying water to the city of Adelaide. This reservoir was built between 1974 and 1977. It officially started working in January 1979. Building it cost about A$11.5 million.
The reservoir was created by building a dam across the Little Para River. Its main jobs are to store water and help prevent floods. The Little Para River itself doesn't always have enough water to fill the reservoir. So, most of the water stored here is pumped in from the River Murray. Sometimes, water is let out of the reservoir into the river. This helps to refill the groundwater supply underground.
There is a public park near the reservoir. It has areas for recreation like tennis courts and playgrounds. There are also public toilets and information about how the dam was built.
Why Was the Reservoir Upgraded?
In June 2008, the Little Para Reservoir was temporarily closed to visitors. This was so important work could be done to make the dam even stronger. The dam wall was made taller by about 1 metre (3.3 feet).
New Spillway System Installed
During the upgrade, a new type of spillway system called a "fusegate" was also built. A spillway is like a safety valve for a dam. It lets extra water flow out safely when the reservoir gets too full. This prevents the dam from being damaged.
To allow for this construction, a large amount of water had to be released from the reservoir. This lowered the water level to 68 percent of its full capacity. This step was necessary to ensure the safety of the workers and the success of the upgrade project.
