The Snowy Scheme megaproject in the Australian Alps was constructed between 1949 and 1974 to divert and store water for irrigation supply and hydroelectricity generation. Tantangara Dam diverts 92% to 98% of the headwaters of upper Murrumbidgee River, or an average of 260 billion litres of water per year. The downstream impacts on river health, cultural values, urban water supply, and recreational values have been compounded by catchment and riparian land degradation, climate change, and invasive species. In the summer of 2019-2020, Murrumbidgee ceased to flow at many locations in the 242 km river reach between Tantangara Dam and Canberra. Complex, transboundary institutional arrangements that prioritise hydropower generation and irrigation storage have contributed to upper Murrumbidgee being excluded from broader Murray-Darling Basin policy reforms to restore environmental flows. 

This research program examines the economics of reoperating Tantangara Dam to deliver increased flows to upper Murrumbidgee River. We are evaluating historical and projected costs, such as foregone hydropower revenues and reduced energy storage, in the context of the market and non-market benefits of improved river health. We seek to co-design and evaluate a range of policy options to increase flows from Tantangara Dam, including water rights reform, water pricing, water abstraction charges, and conditional sustainable finance.  

This research engages with and seeks to inform an Australian Government water reform program to improve the health of upper Murrumbidgee River. Our place-based research program draws on international experiences and explicitly seeks to position Tantangara Dam as a globally known case study of hydropower dam reoperation.