Lake Pedder
Encyclopedia
Lake Pedder was once a natural lake
, located in the southwest
of Tasmania
, Australia
but the name is now used in an official sense to refer to the much larger artificial impoundment and diversion lake formed when the original lake was expanded by dam
ming in 1972 by the Hydro Electric Commission
of Tasmania. The new Lake Pedder has an area of about 242 km² and it is considered to be the largest freshwater lake in Australia.
of Tasmania. The name of the original lake was officially transferred to the new man-made impoundment. Although the new Lake Pedder incorporates the original lake, it does not resemble it in size, appearance or (arguably) ecology.
The new lake consists of a massive impoundment contained by three dams:
The dams were designed and constructed by Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission (HEC) as part of the Upper Gordon River
hydro-electric generation scheme. The aim of this scheme was to increase Tasmania's capacity to generate hydro-electricity in accordance with the Tasmanian Government's policy of attempting to attract secondary industry to the State with the incentive of cheap renewable energy
.
The new Huon Serpentine impoundment, which filled after the dams were completed in 1972, drains into Lake Gordon
via the McPartlan Pass Canal
. Together, the lakes form the biggest water catchment and storage in Australia.
and Allan Knight, the HEC Commissioner, were seen as the leading proponents of the 'damming' of Tasmania against any opinion to the contrary, and were not averse to taking their opinions to state wide and national advertising campaigns asserting their right to dam the lake.
and spread throughout Australia
and internationally. The focus on the South West Tasmania Wilderness area as an environmental battleground increased interest in the area, and many travelled to Lake Pedder before it was flooded to see what the issues were about.
The protests included the United Tasmania Group
who were the precursor to the Tasmanian Greens
and are now recognised as the world's first green party. The group that preceded the Tasmanian Wilderness Society - the South West Tasmania Action Committee continued after the flooding, with the knowledge that surveying and appraising other catchments in the south west and west of Tasmania was well underway by the HEC. Although increasingly sophisticated economic, environmental and engineering arguments were raised by the opponents of the dam, it was not until the Franklin scheme that either the Hydro or its defenders were even considering the critiques. In 1972, the Christian activist Brenda Hean
perished with pilot Max Price in a tiger moth
aircraft they were flying from Tasmania
to Canberra
to protest the damming of Lake Pedder, arguably because pro-dam campaigners entered the plane's hangar and placed sugar in one of its fuel tanks.
Concerns over the construction of the dam revolved around the loss of the distinctive pink quartzite
beach of the original lake, and an increased understanding of the unique nature of the wilderness quality to the south west of Tasmania. This developed further with the Franklin Dam
issue.
In 1994, a campaign group was launched called Pedder 2000. They proposed, unsuccessfully, the draining and restoration of the lake to its original state. There is an ongoing low-key campaign with the same goal by the group known as the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee which remains active
People opposed to the flooding of the original lake do not accept the legitimacy of the official, gazetted name of Lake Pedder for the body of water that drowned it in 1972. Instead, they prefer to use the name Huon-Serpentine Impoundment. This name denotes the two major rivers dammed to create the current lake (Huon and Serpentine) and describes the technical status of the lake as an element of a hydro-electric scheme (impoundment) more accurately than the terms lake or reservoir. Bushwalkers sometimes informally refer to it as "Fake Pedder".
From a technical, hydro-electric scheme point of view, the current Lake Pedder is an impoundment or diversion pond rather than a reservoir or lake.
While the term reservoir can be applied to any body of stored water, in a hydro-electric scheme it is usually understood to mean a body of stored water that can be drawn down to ensure water is available to drive the scheme's turbines and thus generate electricity when insufficient water is entering the reservoir to keep it full. The current impoundment does not and can not fulfil this function because there is no mechanism in place (pumping infrastructure) to draw down the water and transfer it to the neighbouring Lake Gordon where the Upper Gordon hydro-electric scheme's only power station is located.
(Hypolimnus pedderensis) is only known by the type specimen collected from a beach
on Lake Pedder, Tasmania
in 1971. After the flooding of the lake, this invertebrate was never seen again. A 1996 survey that sought to determine whether the species
still existed in the area failed to find any examples. Since 2003 the Lake Pedder Earthworm has been listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
.
Another extinction that occurred after the flooding is that of the Lake Pedder planarian
(Romankenkius pedderensis), an endemic flatworm
. Since 1996 this invertebrate has also been listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
.
The Pedder galaxias
, an Australian freshwater fish
, is considered extinct in its natural habitat of Lake Pedder and its tributaries, although it still exists in captivity and in a translocated population at Lake Oberon in the Western Arthurs
mountain range.
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
, located in the southwest
South West Tasmania
South West Tasmania is a region in Tasmania that has evolved over the fifty years between its consideration as a potential resource for development to its consideration as World Heritage wilderness...
of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, 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...
but the name is now used in an official sense to refer to the much larger artificial impoundment and diversion lake formed when the original lake was expanded by 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...
ming in 1972 by the Hydro Electric Commission
Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the government owned enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia...
of Tasmania. The new Lake Pedder has an area of about 242 km² and it is considered to be the largest freshwater lake in Australia.
Old Lake Pedder and the New Lake Pedder
In years gone by the lake was named after Sir John Pedder, the first Chief JusticeChief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of Tasmania. The name of the original lake was officially transferred to the new man-made impoundment. Although the new Lake Pedder incorporates the original lake, it does not resemble it in size, appearance or (arguably) ecology.
The new lake consists of a massive impoundment contained by three dams:
- Serpentine DamSerpentine Dam, TasmaniaThe Serpentine Dam was one of the component dams involved in the flooding of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania, it is located on the Serpentine River, Tasmania. The dam is a high rockfill dam....
- a 38 m high rockfill dam with a concrete upstream face on the Serpentine RiverSerpentine RiverSerpentine River may refer to:* Serpentine River, New Zealand* Serpentine River , Australia* Serpentine River * Serpentine River , Canada* Serpentine River , Canada...
. - Scotts Peak DamScotts Peak DamThe Scotts Peak Dam was one of the three component dams in the flooding of the original Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania, Australia. Completed in 1973, the dam is high, long, spanning across the upper reaches of the Huon River....
- a 43 m high rockfill dam with a bitumen upstream face on the upper reaches of the Huon RiverHuon RiverThe Huon River is the fourth largest river in Tasmania, Australia. It is 170 km in length, and runs through the fertile Huon Valley. From Scotts Peak Dam at Lake Pedder where it begins, it flows south-east to the Tahune Airwalk, where the Picton River joins, before heading through the rural...
near Scotts PeakScotts Peakthumb|right|Scotts PeakScotts Peak is a mountain in the South West Tasmania which is associated with the construction and flooding of the original Lake Pedder, as the lake now completely surrounds the peak...
. - Edgar DamEdgar DamThe Edgar Dam was one of the component dams in the flooding of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania, Australia. It was named after Lake Edgar. The dam was constructed by Hydro Tasmania as part of the Gordon River Power Development Scheme....
- a 17 m high rockfill dam at Lake Edgar near Scotts Peak.
The dams were designed and constructed by Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission (HEC) as part of the Upper Gordon River
Gordon River
The Gordon River is one of the major rivers of Tasmania, Australia. It rises in the centre of the island at Lake Richmond and flows westward for about 193km where it empties into Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania. Major tributaries include the Serpentine River and the Franklin...
hydro-electric generation scheme. The aim of this scheme was to increase Tasmania's capacity to generate hydro-electricity in accordance with the Tasmanian Government's policy of attempting to attract secondary industry to the State with the incentive of cheap renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
.
The new Huon Serpentine impoundment, which filled after the dams were completed in 1972, drains into Lake Gordon
Lake Gordon
Lake Gordon is a reservoir created by the Gordon Dam on the upper reaches of the Gordon River in south-west Tasmania, Australia. The reservoir was formed in the early 1970s as a result of the dam construction by the HEC...
via the McPartlan Pass Canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
. Together, the lakes form the biggest water catchment and storage in Australia.
Damming
There were protests in Tasmania and mainland Australia at the flooding of the original lake, before during and after construction of the dams. Protests began when in 1967 the Tasmanian Government revoked the status of the Lake Pedder National Park that had protected the lake since 1955. The role of the HEC as a surrogate wing of the Tasmanian government was perceived when the political or wider social dissent against the HEC power over the Tasmanian environment seemed impregnable. Tasmania's political leader, Premier "Electric Eric" ReeceEric Reece
Eric Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975.-Biography:...
and Allan Knight, the HEC Commissioner, were seen as the leading proponents of the 'damming' of Tasmania against any opinion to the contrary, and were not averse to taking their opinions to state wide and national advertising campaigns asserting their right to dam the lake.
Flooding
A series of photographs in the 1976 Tasmanian Year book illustrated the process of flooding of the Lake Pedder area.Community response
Opposition to the flooding of Lake Pedder extended well beyond TasmaniaTasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and spread throughout 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...
and internationally. The focus on the South West Tasmania Wilderness area as an environmental battleground increased interest in the area, and many travelled to Lake Pedder before it was flooded to see what the issues were about.
The protests included the United Tasmania Group
United Tasmania Group
The United Tasmania Group is generally acknowledged as the world's first Green party. The party was formed on 23 March 1972, during a meeting of the Lake Pedder Action Group at the Hobart town hall in order to field political candidates in the April 1972 state election. They received 3.9% of the...
who were the precursor to the Tasmanian Greens
Tasmanian Greens
The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign...
and are now recognised as the world's first green party. The group that preceded the Tasmanian Wilderness Society - the South West Tasmania Action Committee continued after the flooding, with the knowledge that surveying and appraising other catchments in the south west and west of Tasmania was well underway by the HEC. Although increasingly sophisticated economic, environmental and engineering arguments were raised by the opponents of the dam, it was not until the Franklin scheme that either the Hydro or its defenders were even considering the critiques. In 1972, the Christian activist Brenda Hean
Brenda Hean
Brenda Hean 1910-1972. Was a member of the Lake Pedder Action Committee and resident of Hobart, Tasmania at the time of the flooding of Lake Pedder- Background :...
perished with pilot Max Price in a tiger moth
Tiger moth
Tiger moths are moths of the family Arctiidae.Tiger moth may also refer to:*de Havilland Tiger Moth, an aircraft; an aerobatic and trainer tailwheel biplane*de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth, an earlier monoplane produced by de Havilland...
aircraft they were flying from Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
to protest the damming of Lake Pedder, arguably because pro-dam campaigners entered the plane's hangar and placed sugar in one of its fuel tanks.
Concerns over the construction of the dam revolved around the loss of the distinctive pink quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
beach of the original lake, and an increased understanding of the unique nature of the wilderness quality to the south west of Tasmania. This developed further with the Franklin Dam
Franklin Dam
The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of most significant environmental campaigns in Australian history.The dam was...
issue.
In 1994, a campaign group was launched called Pedder 2000. They proposed, unsuccessfully, the draining and restoration of the lake to its original state. There is an ongoing low-key campaign with the same goal by the group known as the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee which remains active
A controversial and contested name
As is the case in many land use, land ownership and territorial disputes, the name currently officially assigned to this body of water has considerable significance. It is also important in terms of understanding the technical status of the body of water as a component of a hydro-electric scheme.People opposed to the flooding of the original lake do not accept the legitimacy of the official, gazetted name of Lake Pedder for the body of water that drowned it in 1972. Instead, they prefer to use the name Huon-Serpentine Impoundment. This name denotes the two major rivers dammed to create the current lake (Huon and Serpentine) and describes the technical status of the lake as an element of a hydro-electric scheme (impoundment) more accurately than the terms lake or reservoir. Bushwalkers sometimes informally refer to it as "Fake Pedder".
From a technical, hydro-electric scheme point of view, the current Lake Pedder is an impoundment or diversion pond rather than a reservoir or lake.
While the term reservoir can be applied to any body of stored water, in a hydro-electric scheme it is usually understood to mean a body of stored water that can be drawn down to ensure water is available to drive the scheme's turbines and thus generate electricity when insufficient water is entering the reservoir to keep it full. The current impoundment does not and can not fulfil this function because there is no mechanism in place (pumping infrastructure) to draw down the water and transfer it to the neighbouring Lake Gordon where the Upper Gordon hydro-electric scheme's only power station is located.
Lake Pedder extinctions
The Lake Pedder earthwormLake Pedder earthworm
The Lake Pedder Earthworm was an earthworm species in the family Megascolecidae. Its genus Hypolimnus is monotypic....
(Hypolimnus pedderensis) is only known by the type specimen collected from a beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
on Lake Pedder, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 1971. After the flooding of the lake, this invertebrate was never seen again. A 1996 survey that sought to determine whether the species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
still existed in the area failed to find any examples. Since 2003 the Lake Pedder Earthworm has been listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.
Another extinction that occurred after the flooding is that of the Lake Pedder planarian
Lake Pedder planarian
The Lake Pedder planarian, Romankenkius pedderensis, was a species of invertebrate in the Dugesiidae family.- Distribution and conservation status :...
(Romankenkius pedderensis), an endemic flatworm
Flatworm
The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes or Plathelminthes are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals...
. Since 1996 this invertebrate has also been listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.
The Pedder galaxias
Pedder galaxias
Pedder galaxias, Galaxias pedderensis, is a critically endangered Australian freshwater fish. It is considered to be extinct in the wild and was originally found only in Lake Pedder in Tasmania.-Range:...
, an Australian freshwater fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, is considered extinct in its natural habitat of Lake Pedder and its tributaries, although it still exists in captivity and in a translocated population at Lake Oberon in the Western Arthurs
Arthur Range
The Arthur Range is a mountain range in the South West Wilderness, Tasmania, Australia. The range is broken into two main section, the Western Arthurs and the Eastern Arthurs...
mountain range.
See also
- Frankland RangeFrankland RangeThe Frankland Range is a mountain range in South West Tasmania, Australia. It is a less popular site of bushwalking than other, more famous, ranges in Tasmania's South West, and is for much more advanced walkers due to its length, isolation and terrain....
- Gordon Power Station
- Hydro TasmaniaHydro TasmaniaHydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the government owned enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia...
- Tasmanian Wilderness Society
- The South West BookThe South West BookThe South West Book - A Tasmanian Wilderness is a book published by the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1978 during concern following the damming of Lake Pedder in Tasmania....
- Tasmania's Wilderness BattlesTasmania's Wilderness BattlesTasmania's Wilderness Battles: A History is a 2008 book by Greg Buckman. Wilderness areas in Tasmania have been the sites of extensive conflict between government and environmentalists for the past 30 years, also with between environmentalists and extractive business.This history presents a...
- Olegas TruchanasOlegas TruchanasOlegas Truchanas was a Lithuanian-Australian conservationist and nature photographer.He was a key figure in the attempt to stop the damming of the ecologically sensitive Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania by the Hydro Electricity Commission...
- Olegas (opera)Olegas (opera)Olegas is an opera based on the life of Lithuanian-born Tasmanian wilderness photographer Olegas Truchanas , by Tasmanian composer Constantine Koukias, with libretto by Natasha Cica....
Further reading
- Gee, H and Fenton, J. (Eds) (1978) The South West Book - A Tasmanian Wilderness Melbourne, Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0-85802-054-8
- Green, Roger (1981) Battle for the Franklin Sydney: Australian Conservation Foundation and Fontana Books ISBN 0006367151 - specifically pp 26–38 for an extended interview with Eric Reece regarding his role in the flooding Lake Pedder.
- Lines, William J. Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-70223-554-7
- Neilson, D. (1975) South West Tasmania - A land of the Wild. Adelaide. Rigby. ISBN 0-85179-874-8
- Thompson, Peter (1981) Power in Tasmania Hawthorn, Victoria Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0-85802-064-5