Spelga Reservoir
| Spelga Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location | County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°10′25″N 6°3′38″W / 54.17361°N 6.06056°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Catchment area | 1,340 acres (5.4 km2) |
| Basin countries | United Kingdom |
| Water volume | 600,000,000 imp gal (2,700,000 m3) |
| Surface elevation | ~ 1,200 ft (370 m) |
| Islands | none |
Spelga Reservoir is a reservoir in the townland of Spelga (Template:Lang-ga) in the Mourne Mountains of County Down, Northern Ireland. It was formed by the Spelga Dam and sits at over 1,200 ft (370 m) above sea level.
The reservoir and dam were built as part of a project that had origins in the idea of supplying water to Belfast, in 1894. The Spelga Reservoir itself was developed between 1953 and 1957.[1]
While the reservoir has not been stocked with fish for some years, it is home to wild trout.[2] The Portadown and Banbridge areas receive their water supply from it.
Building started in 1953, and ran into problems. They realised as they poured the heavy concrete foundations that the dam was sinking, it was found that it was as much as 40 metres to the actual bedrock. They had started building on large boulders.[3]
References
- ^
"Newry & Mourne - The pet lamb". Newry Democrat (online archives). 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Spelga Reservoir". Discover Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Tourist Board). Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ Tedd, Paul. "Conference papers of the British Dam Society". BritishDams.org. Retrieved 14 September 2012.