page_title: Snowy Mountains Scheme
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Snowy Mountains Scheme / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Official launch of the Snowy Mountains Hydro project at Adaminaby. From the left, Prime Minister, Ben Chifley; Governor-General of Australia, William McKell and Minister for Works and Housing, Nelson Lemmon
context_page_description: The Snowy Mountains scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; one pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that were constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Scheme was completed under the supervision of Chief Engineer, Sir William Hudson. It is the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia.
  The water of the Snowy River and some of its tributaries, much of which formerly flowed southeast onto the river flats of East Gippsland, and into Bass Strait of the Tasman sea, is captured at high elevations and diverted inland to the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers irrigation areas. The Scheme includes two major tunnel systems constructed through the continental divide of the Snowy Mountains, known in Australia as the Great Dividing Range. The water falls 800 metres and travels through large hydro-electric power stations which generate peak-load power for the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria.
caption: Official launch of the Snowy Mountains Scheme at Adaminaby. From the left, Prime Minister, Ben Chifley; Governor-General, William McKell and Minister for Works and Housing, Nelson Lemmon, 1949.
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