Talbingo Dam is a major ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway across the Tumut River upstream of Talbingo in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.
The structure was completed by Thiess Brothers in 1971,[1] and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 that is now run by Snowy Hydro.
The power station has 150.9 metres (495 ft) rated hydraulic head, which flows into the station from 6 large pressure pipes (one for each turbine) from a concrete inlet structure at the edge of the reservoir, built about midway between the proper Talbingo dam and its spillway.
The inlet structure can be mistaken by tourists for being the main dam, due to being a far more conspicuous sight from the road that leads into the Talbingo Dam/Tumut 3 complex.
[6] The power generated at Tumut 3 serves both New South Wales and Victoria.