by John Wells
In the hills east of the main road north through Guys Hill to Emerald, off O'Neill R, there is a reservoir forgotten by many but fiercely protected by a few. It should not be as little-known as it is, but on the other hand there is a need to preserve and protect a large number of flora and fauna species.
A compromise, or at least a workable plan, will develop.
The Beaconsfield Reservoir is on the Haunted Gully Creek north of Beaconsfield. The name has mystified people since it was first used. The creek is an insignificant little water course but it was the centre of significant gold mining efforts, and a group of Chinese miners cashed what would be, in today's money, more than seven million dollars. Some say it was really the "Hunted Gully", partly because the Prince of Wales was taken there to hunt when he stayed at the Beaconsfield Hotel, now the Central.
A gold mining lease was taken up in 1872 and it used the name Haunted Gully. This seems to have been the first time the name was used, but who can tell? This lease was to a man named Wisehart, and his lease was of ten acres up at the very steep north end of the gully. He was sinking a shaft and another miner, Valentine, was sinking a shaft just below his claim.
At first the gold recovered was alluvial, in the creek itself, but where there is alluvial gold there is somewhere a mother lode. Wisehart spared no effort in looking for it. He built a dam to guarantee a water supply for 'puddling'. Another dam was later built a little further down the creek and Wisehart built a rough tramline to take the ore down to it.
If these first two hafts were in 1872 it seems reasonable to think that prospectors must have been there before that date.
There were about 100 miners working the diggings at one point but n the early 1890s there was just a few diehards left. The mines had made money, but not much, and it seemed the gold had run out. Not so. In 1894 a group of Chinese miners came to Haunted Gully and in 1895 these gentlemen cashed in fifty one ounces of gold, a very large amount. Today's spot gold price is $2066 and 51 ounces would be worth $105,366. And that was not the whole of their takings. The amount was worthy of note and the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of 13 March 1895 reported it.
Haunted Gully was the most productive gully but there were miners working in Bain's Gully, Welcome Gully, Mayfield's and Walker's Gullies. It was not another Ballarat but it is really surprising that so little is known about it. One 'memorial' is a sign behind the fence where Salisbury Road enters the bush that warns of abandoned shafts in the area.
Much of the tiny goldfield was to be covered by many metres of very deep water. The Beaconsfield Reservoir is very deep. The surface covers only 16 hectares (40 acres) but it holds about two hundred million gallons (about 910 megalitres).
One virtue the creek did have was that it flowed down a very steep-sided gully, ideal for damming. In 1916 a plan was developed to provide a reliable water supply to the Mornington Peninsula and, particularly, the Flinders Naval Base, HMAS Cerberus.
The plan involved bringing water from a dam on the headwaters of the Bunyip River, through tunnels and miles (about 30 miles) of open water race, to Haunted Gully, where a dam was being built. The Haunted Gully Creek might have 'hosted' the dam but it made very little contribution to the water stored in the reservoir. The water was then carried by pipeline down to the Peninsula. The channel was known as the Bunyip Main Race, until the scheme was extended and it became the Tarago Main Race.
This was the first example, but far from the last, of Gippsland water being exported.
The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission undertook the work and the dam wall was completed in 1918, an incredible effort when labour was scarce, so many men being 'away'. As it filled it became a popular beauty spot, with people travelling from far afield to picnic, fish and just enjoy the scenery. Eventually, though, it was fenced to keep the water safe from pollution. Remember that from 1880 or so the "Beaconsfield Hills" were seen as a tranquil beauty spot for a holiday, with healthy and invigorating fresh air.
At first water was drawn from the Toomuc Creek along an aqueduct. The hilly terrain meant that a few tunnels had to be made for the water. The dam filled fairly quickly and high-quality water went down to the Peninsula. The population was growing steadily and more water was needed, at some time in the 1940s an open channel was dug further east to the Bunyip Reservoir
The Bunyip Reservoir was being discussed in Parliament as early as 1914. It was felt that it could provide water for the Peninsula and some bayside suburbs, that there would still be sufficient water in the Bunyip River to irrigate farms on the Koo wee rup Swamp, and that it would enable flood mitigation.
That as a very dry year and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works decided to increase Melbourne's water supply. The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission was tasked with building reservoirs at Frankston and at Beaconsfield. Construction of the Bunyip Main Race began in 1916 as the Beaconsfield Reservoir was being built.
In 1957 the 'Race' was taken further east to collect water from the Tarago River and then in 1969 it was extended to the Tarago Reservoir.
Part of what was now called the Tarago Main Race was decommissioned in 1997, from the Reservoir as far east as Cannibal Creek. There were concerns about the quality of the water in the Beaconsfield Reservoir. That was at least partly due to the number of animals that drowned in the uncovered aqueduct.
From about 2019 there has been much discussion about the future of the dam. Melbourne Water wanted to lower the dam wall and make various modifications, partly to protect properties downstream should the wall fail.
Local citizens groups and environment groups entered into long and complex discussions with Melbourne Water and with the Cardinia Shire Council. The Cardinia Environment Coalition is now effectively the responsible authority, and I will revisit this story in fifty years or so to tell you what happened next.