Lake Macdonald (Six Mile Creek)
About Lake Macdonald
Originally built in 1965, the dam was raised in 1980 to increase its storage capacity.
Although the official name is ‘Six Mile Creek Dam’, it is more well-known as Lake Macdonald. The dam is located in the Noosa hinterland and is part of South East Queensland’s drinking water supply.
It is an un-gated dam, meaning that when it reaches 100 per cent capacity, water flows over the spillway and safely out of the dam. If you would like to be notified when Lake Macdonald (Six Mile Creek) Dam begins to spill, sign up to our free dam release notification service or download our public safety mobile app.
For residents living downstream of Lake Macdonald Dam, click here to read more about how the dam has been designed and constructed, what Seqwater does to manage the dam and how the dam performed during the heavy rainfall associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March 2017.
Current capacity
- KEY INFORMATION
- WATER SOURCE
- LIVING NEAR DAMS
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Key information
NameLake Macdonald (Six Mile Creek)
WatercourseSix Mile Creek
LocationApproximately 4 km north-east of Cooroy
Catchment area49.00km²
Length of dam wall501.00m
Year completed1965
Type of constructionEarth and rock fill dam
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Lake Macdonald is located near Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast and is part of the SEQ Water Grid.
The lake has a catchment area of 49 km2 and the dam holds 8,018 million litres of water at full supply.
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Flood mitigation
All dams help mitigate flooding to some extent. The peak outflow from a gated or un-gated dam during a flood event is less than the peak outflow that would have occurred had the dam not been built, because some water is held in the dam while it is spilling. This means that water flow slows down as floods pass through the dam.
For residents living downstream of Lake Macdonald, click here to read more about how the dam has been designed and constructed, what Seqwater does to manage the dam and how the dam performed during the heavy rainfall associated with ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March 2017.
It’s important neighbours and people downstream of dams know what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency. Each of our dams have an emergency action plan (EAP) in place to enable us to respond quickly to potential incidents in partnership with the Bureau of Meteorology, relevant emergency services and local councils. For Lake Macdonald (Six Mile Creek Dam), this is Noosa Shire Council.
