PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
Falls Dam was built as an irrigation project and was first seriously mooted in 1925.
Construction began in 1931 and it was completed in 1935. Built to help irrigate farms in the area, it is a rock dam. The rock dam was preferred as it would employ more people during construction.
It was built after the construction of Poolburn and Idaburn Dams.
Pioneer Energy added a power station in 2003. A series of fishing huts sit on the side of the reservoir (pictured on the right edge of the lake).
A small plughole sits just above the face of the dam, to lower levels when they get too high. The Manuherikia River is the subject of a decision over minimum flow levels at present.
