Lake William Hovell is a man-made lake in north-eastern Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Formed by a 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...

 on the King River

King River (Victoria)

King River is a river in Victoria, a state of Australia. It is a tributary of the Ovens River and ultimately the Murray River on the western slopes of the Australian Alps. The King Valley is a beautiful, cool climate wine grape growing area. It is a river used by kayaking enthusiasts with many...

, the water level in the lake can vary considerably. It is situated south of Whitfield

Whitfield, Victoria

Whitfield is an agricultural township in the King Valley in north-eastern Victoria.- Overview :The township is immediately west of the flood-prone King River and has State Forest to its west and east. Agriculture extends along several stream valleys which are tributaries of the King River...

 on the edge of the Alpine National Park

Alpine National Park

The Alpine National Park is a national park in Victoria , northeast of Melbourne. It covers much of the higher areas of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, including Victoria's highest point, Mount Bogong and the associated subalpine woodland and grassland of the Bogong High Plains...

.

The lake is named after explorer William Hovell

William Hovell

William Hilton Hovell was an English explorer of Australia.-Early life:Hovell was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England and went to sea as a boy, becoming a Royal Navy captain before settling in New South Wales, arriving in October 1813 aboard the Earl Spencer with his wife Esther née Arndell...

. It supplies water for irrigated crops, vineyards and grazing properties along the King River

King River (Victoria)

King River is a river in Victoria, a state of Australia. It is a tributary of the Ovens River and ultimately the Murray River on the western slopes of the Australian Alps. The King Valley is a beautiful, cool climate wine grape growing area. It is a river used by kayaking enthusiasts with many...

 from Cheshunt

Cheshunt, Victoria

Cheshunt is a small rural village situated in the King Valley in north-east Victoria, Australia. It is located about 50km from Wangaratta and is close to the Alpine National Park. At the 2006 census, Cheshunt and the surrounding area had a population of 200....

 to Wangaratta

Wangaratta, Victoria

Wangaratta is a cathedral city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the...

. Construction of the earth and rockfill dam was completed in 1973.

Outflow from the dam drives a 1.6MW

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

 hydro-electric generator

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

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