Lake Somerset

Lake Somerset is a popular tourist destination in Queensland, known for its iconic Somerset Dam.

The dam is a mass concrete gravity dam with a gated spillway that spans the Stanley River. It is located in the locality of Somerset Dam in the Somerset Region of Queensland. The dam wall is 50 meters high and 305 meters long, created by a 203-thousand-cubic-meter wall. The impounded reservoir at full capacity holds 904,000 megaliters, with 380,000 megaliters allocated for water supply and the remainder used for flood mitigation. The dam has a catchment area of 1330 square kilometers and creates Lake Somerset at an elevation of 108 meters above sea level. The gated spillway has a discharge capacity of 4,650 cubic meters per second.

The purpose of the dam is to provide potable water to the Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Logan City regions, generate hydroelectricity, and mitigate flood damage. It is named after Henry Plantagenet Somerset, a local grazier and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Management of the dam was transferred to SEQ Water in July 2008 as part of the South East Queensland Water Grid project.

Lake Somerset offers a range of recreational opportunities. Kirkleigh and The Spit are public access areas with concrete boat ramps for day-trippers. Visitors can camp overnight at Kirkleigh or stay in caravans below the dam wall at Somerset Park. Lake Somerset Holiday Park's Kirkleigh Campground offers cabin stays with waterfront views and well-manicured gardens. The dam has thirty kilometers of navigable waterway, perfect for boating and fishing.

The dam is recognized as an Engineering Heritage National Landmark by Engineers Australia. It showcases the country