Paloona Dam
dam in Northern Tasmania
The Paloona Dam is a concrete-faced rock-fill embankment dam across the Forth River, located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Completed in 1971, the resultant reservoir, Lake Paloona, was established for the purpose of generation of hydroelectricity via the adjacent Paloona Power Station, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station.
The dam, its reservoir, and the power station are owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
Dam and reservoir overview
The concrete-face rockfill dam wall is 43 metres (141 ft) high and 171 metres (561 ft) long. When full, Lake Paloona has capacity of 19,100 megalitres (15,500 acre⋅ft) and covers 178 hectares (440 acres), drawn from a catchment area of 759 square kilometres (293 sq mi). The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of 2,040 cubic metres per second (72,000 cu ft/s).
Hydroelectric power station
The Paloona Power Station is part of the Mersey–Forth scheme that comprises seven run-of-the-river hydroelectric power stations and one mini-hydro power station. The final station in the scheme, the Paloona Power Station is located immediately below the dam wall. Water from Lake Paloona is fed to the power station by a short single penstock under the dam.
The power station was commissioned in 1972 by the Hydro Electric Corporation (TAS) with a Fuji Kaplan-type turbine, with a generating capacity of 30 megawatts (40,000 hp).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Paloona Dam” as dam in Northern Tasmania. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as dam in Northern Tasmania. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7128643. Authority coordinates are -41.283, 146.249. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971 and 1972.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Paloona Dam”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Paloona Dam primary sources, Paloona Dam archive and Paloona research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paloona Dam”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Paloona Dam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.