Location Silvan, Victoria Catchment area 9 km (3.5 sq mi) Surface area 3.33 km (1.29 sq mi) | Type reservoir Basin countries Australia | |
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The Silvan Reservoir is located in Silvan about 40 kilometres (25 mi) East of Melbourne, Victoria.
The reservoir's history dates back to 1914 when a severe drought forced Melburnians to search for a new water supply to handle their ever-increasing needs. Construction took place between the years of 1926 and 1931. When it was finally completed it was 644 metres (2,113 ft) long, 219 metres (719 ft) wide, creating a reservoir that is 43 metres (141 ft) deep.
Silvan Reservoir was officially opened on 7 July 1931. In 1983, extra work was needed, as the wall had started to show cracks and it was at this time that the picnic ground was added to the Silvan Reservoir Park.
Silvan is an off-stream storage reservoir, meaning that most of the water is sourced from other reservoirs as the actual catchment 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) for Silvan is small. Water for Silvan is sourced from Upper Yarra, O'Shannassy and Thomson (via Upper Yarra) reservoirs. In turn, Silvan directly supplies many of Melbourne's eastern suburbs as well as other off-stream storage reservoirs including Cardinia and Greenvale.
Silvan Reservoir has a capacity of 40,000 megalitres (1,400×106 cu ft).