Ewen Maddock Dam is one of many smaller dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s on Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

's Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Although it does not have a central business district, by population it ranks as the 10th largest metropolis in Australia and the third largest in...

.
It is situated approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) south east of Mooloolah

Mooloolah, Queensland

Mooloolah Valley is a small town on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Queensland, Australia.It is situated north of Landsborough on the main railway line from Brisbane with regular services southbound to Brisbane and northbound to Nambour and Gympie....

 and 3 km (1.9 mi) from Landsborough

Landsborough, Queensland

Landsborough is a small town on the Sunshine Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. It is situated north of the Glasshouse Mountains just off Steve Irwin Way, 82 km north of Brisbane...

. The dam is managed by the Qld Water.

Ewen Maddock Dam has a surface area of 370 hectares and holds 16 700 ML of water at an average depth of 4.5 m (14.8 ft). It was built across Addlington Creek, a tributary of the Mooloolah River

Mooloolah River

The Mooloolah River is a river in South East Queensland, Australia. The river rises from the eastern slopes of the Blackall Range and flows east-northeast, similar to the Maroochy River to the north. The mouth of the river is at southern Mooloolaba. The catchment area covers 221 km2.Addlington...

 in 1973, to supply the fast growing region with town water.

Water supply

In the past, raw water from the dam has been supplied to a treatment plant at Caloundra. Since 1988 Ewen Maddock Dam was not used as a water source due to a lack of working water treatment

Water treatment

Water treatment describes those processes used to make water more acceptable for a desired end-use. These can include use as drinking water, industrial processes, medical and many other uses. The goal of all water treatment process is to remove existing contaminants in the water, or reduce the...

 infrastructure.

In 2007, work begun on a A$30 million water treatment plant that will allow the dam to supply drinking water to the South East Queensland Water Grid

South East Queensland Water Grid

The SEQ Water Grid is a region-wide, long term, water supply scheme that provides a sustainable water infrastructure network for the South East Queensland region of Australia. The project was the largest urban response to the Drought in Australia, which was severely affecting water supplies in...

, via the Northern Pipeline inter-connector. The state government incorporated a 100 m (328.1 ft) timber boardwalk

Boardwalk

A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....

 along the lake's edge into the revised master plan

Master plan

A master plan has many meanings, it can refer to:Generally it may be used for serious plans or strategies, see:*Strategy**Strategic planning**Comprehensive planning**Blueprint...

 when open space at Ewen Maddock Park was resumed for the treatment plant's construction.

Recreation

Swimming is permitted in the reservoir. Boating is limited to paddle power, due to the likelihood that powered boats would agitate the water and cause noxious weeds to break apart and spread.

Access is limited to daylight hours and no camping is permitted, except at a group camping site with cabins and dormitories, called the Ewen Maddock Dam Recreation Centre which is located at the south eastern end of the lake.

Fauna and Flora

Ewen Maddock Dam is stocked

Fish stocking

Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists...

 with bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

, silver perch

Silver Perch

Silver perch is a medium sized freshwater fish endemic to the Murray-Darling river system in south-eastern Australia. The scientific name comes from an aboriginal name for the species recorded by Major Mitchell on his 1832 expedition. It is not a perch, being a grunter in the family Terapontidae...

, golden perch

Golden perch

The golden perch, Macquaria ambigua, is an Australian native freshwater fish, primarily of the Murray-Darling river system. It is not a true perch of the genus Perca....

 and southern saratoga

Southern saratoga

The southern saratoga is a species of fish in the Osteoglossidae family. It is endemic to Australia.-Description:...

, while bony bream

Bony bream

Bony bream Nematalosa erebi are a widespread and common, small to medium sized Australian freshwater fish often found in large shoals throughout much of northern and central Australia, and the Murray-Darling basin.-Description:...

 is also present naturally. A permit is not required to fish in the lake. The lake is weedy and shallow, except in the northern parts close to the dam wall. The weed species, Cabomba

Cabomba

Cabomba is an aquatic plant genus, one of two belonging to the family Cabombaceae. It has divided submerged leaves in the shape of a fan and is much favoured by aquarists as an ornamental and oxygenating plant for fishtanks...

 and Salvinia

Salvinia

Salvinia, a genus in the family Salviniaceae, is a floating fern named in honor of Antonio Maria Salvini, a 17th Century Italian scientist. The genus was published by Séguier, in Pl. Veron. 3: 52. 1754. About ten species exist....

, have been the target of weed eradication

Eradication

Eradication may also refer to:*Genocide, the deliberate, systematic destruction of an ethnic, religious or national group of people*Eradication of infectious diseases, the reduction of the global prevalence of an infectious disease in its human or animal host to zero*Intentional local extinction,...

 programs by CalAqua. The dam is a good place to see the large stork known as the jabiru

Jabiru

The Jabiru is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It is most common in the Pantanal region of Brazil and the Eastern Chaco region of Paraguay. It is the only member of the genus Jabiru...

. South-eastern banks of the lake are heavily forested and protected within the Beerwah State Forest.