The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme was built in the Kosciusko National Park in New South Wales. It was built to collect water from the melting snow and rain in the Snowy Mountains. The water collected from the Snowy Mountains was stored in dams and through power stations and eventually used to create electricity. The Scheme was made up of 16 major dams, 7 power stations, 1 pumping station, 145 kilometres of underground tunnels and pipeline and 80 kilometres of aqueducts. The main storage lake could hold nine times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour!
The construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme began in 1949 and finished in 1974. It cost more than $820 million and is an important source of water and electricity for the eastern states of Australia today. The Scheme is one of the largest and most complex hydro-electric schemes in the world.