However, this reservoir was still limited in its capacity to meet the growing demand for water in the Goulburn Valley and to protect farmers during drought years.

[2] The embankment dam wall is constructed with an earth core and rock fill, rising to a height of 83 metres (272 ft).

[3] The core component materials of the wall include 10,200 thousand cubic metres (360×10^6 cu ft) of rock and earth.

[2][3] Lake Eildon is connected to the metropolitan water supply of Melbourne, the state capital, via a pipeline from the Goulburn River.

[6] These smaller turbines were relocated from the former Sugarloaf Power Station on the Eildon Weir,[5] completed in 1929 and in use until work on the larger dam started in 1951.

A 5,200 megalitres (1.1×109 imp gal; 1.4×109 US gal) pondage below the dam temporarily detains water discharged from the power station and regulates releases downstream to minimise variations in flow due to intermittent power generation.

The Private Harbour manages the owners' houseboats with staff and facilities that cater to over 18 marinas.

On 15 October 2022, due to an abnormal amount of rain in the region, the lake filled up to 100.3% of its capacity for the first time since 1994.

[13] The nearby town of Bonnie Doon was the location for the holiday scenes in the movie, The Castle.