Dam fine spot
The Poolburn Reservoir attracts a range of people with a range of uses for its cool blue waters in the summertime.
Also known as the Poolburn Dam, the reservoir, in Central Otago, was built during the Great Depression for irrigation, but also as an employment initiative.
The water is used by farmers in the Ida Valley. Long Valley Creek feeds the reservoir, and the reservoir itself feeds the Pool Burn. The Pool Burn flows into the Ida Valley, combines with the Ida Burn, and breaks through the Raggedy Range at the Poolburn Gorge before flowing into the Manuherikia River.
There is access to the Poolburn Reservoir from either Omakau in the Manuherikia Valley or Oturehua in the Ida Valley. There is also access from Paerau over the Rock and Pillar Range, but this is a dryweather road only that must be negotiated by a fourwheeldrive.
The reservoir is located on the Old Dunstan Rd and the flooded area was once the site of five hotels.
The concretearch dam is about 30m high and 150m long at its crest. About 11,000cu m of concrete was used to construct the dam. During construction, scaffolding collapsed, resulting in seven men suffering injuries, two of whom were initially in critical condition. In June 1931, one worker died from a fall at the site.
Today, the dam is administered by the Ida Valley Irrigation Company. When full, the reservoir covers over 300ha.
Brown trout and rainbow trout were introduced into the reservoir, but only brown trout remain.
The Poolburn Reservoir was used to depict the kingdom of Rohan in The
Lord of the Rings film trilogy. There are multiple huts around the reservoir’s
edge.
Otago Daily Times photographer Stephen Jaquiery visited to see what was happening on the dam.