Looking Down the Opuha Dam, Fairlie

On my way back from Tekapo today, I decided to stop for lunch at the Opuha Dam, just outside of Fairlie After demolishing another beautiful pie from the Fairlie Bakery (venison and cranberry - yum!), I walked along the causeway on the top of the dam to get this shot looking down the spillway to the lower reaches of the Opuha River below.

This is what the Opuha Water website says about it:

"The actual project itself consists of a 50 metre high earth dam, with a single hydro turbine and a lake covering up to 710 hectares and storing over 74 million cubic metres of water. The project provides water to maintain environmental flows in the downstream catchment and for irrigation as well as urban and industrial supplies. Renewable hydro electricity is generated with all the water released from the dam. Water storage is prioritised for release into the Opuha River which flows into Opihi River to ensure minimum flows are maintained at all times and especially in times of drought and/or low natural flows."

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my self portrait under the stars on Mount John - it was great to see it make the Spotlight.