Lake Pedder was a former natural
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
, located in the
southwestSouth West TasmaniaIs 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
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is 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 500,000 ,...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, and is now the name used to refer to the much larger artificial impoundment and diversion lake formed when the original lake was flooded by
damA 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...
ming in 1972 by
Hydro Electric CommissionHydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia.The Hydro was originally mainly oriented towards hydro-electricity due to Tasmania's dramatic topography and relatively high rainfall in the central and western...
. The new Lake Pedder has an area of about 242 km² and it is considered to be the largest freshwater lake in Australia.
From the point of reference of opponents of the damming of the original lake it should be known as the
Huon-Serpentine impoundment.
The lake was named after Sir John Pedder, the first
Chief JusticeThe 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 Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme...
of Tasmania.
Lake Pedder was a former natural
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
, located in the
southwestSouth West TasmaniaIs 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
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is 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 500,000 ,...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, and is now the name used to refer to the much larger artificial impoundment and diversion lake formed when the original lake was flooded by
damA 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...
ming in 1972 by
Hydro Electric CommissionHydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia.The Hydro was originally mainly oriented towards hydro-electricity due to Tasmania's dramatic topography and relatively high rainfall in the central and western...
. The new Lake Pedder has an area of about 242 km² and it is considered to be the largest freshwater lake in Australia.
From the point of reference of opponents of the damming of the original lake it should be known as the
Huon-Serpentine impoundment.
Lake Pedder and 'New' Lake Pedder
The lake was named after Sir John Pedder, the first
Chief JusticeThe 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 Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme...
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 ecology.
It consists of a large impoundment contained by three dams:
- Serpentine Dam
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.-External links:...
- a 38 m high rockfill dam with a concrete upstream face on the Serpentine RiverSerpentine River may refer to:* Serpentine River, New Zealand* Serpentine River, Tasmania* Serpentine River * Serpentine River * Serpentine River...
.
- Scotts Peak Dam
Scotts Peak Dam was one of the three component dams in the flooding of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania. It was completed in 1973.The dam is 43 metres high and 1067 metres long. It spans 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 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 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 Dam
Edgar Dam was one of the component dams in the flooding of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania.-See also:* Scotts Peak Dam* Gordon Dam* Serpentine Dam, Tasmania* Hydro Tasmania* Lake Edgar -Aerial photographs:...
- 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 RiverThe Gordon River is one of the major rivers of Tasmania, Australia. It rises in the centre of the island and flows westward. Major tributaries include the Serpentine River and the Franklin River. The Gordon River empties into Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania.The entire course of...
hydro-electric generation scheme. This scheme was developed to substantially 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 energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
.
The new Huon Serpentine impoundment, which filled after the dams were completed in 1972, drains into
Lake GordonLake Gordon is the name of a lake created by the Gordon River Dam on the upper reaches of the Gordon River in south west Tasmania, Australia.The lake was created in the early 1970s for hydroelectric power by the Hydro Electricity Commission...
via the McPartlan Pass
CanalCanals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canal: aqueduct canals are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterway canals are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans.The word...
. 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 Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969 and 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975....
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 is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is 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 500,000 ,...
and spread throughout
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
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 GroupThe 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 GreensThe Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia who developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the building of the Franklin Dam...
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 HeanBrenda 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 mothTiger 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
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is 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 500,000 ,...
to
CanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian 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
quartziteQuartzite 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...
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 DamThe 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.
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 earthwormThe Lake Pedder earthworm was a species of invertebrate in the Megascolecidae family.- Taxonomy :The Lepidopetera genus Hypolimnas is often misspelled as "Hypolimnus" but is not homonymous.- Distribution :...
(
Hypolimnus pedderensis) is only known by the type specimen collected from a
beachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, or cobblestones...
on Lake Pedder,
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is 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 500,000 ,...
in 1971. After the flooding of the lake, this invertebrate was never seen again. A 1996 survey that sought to determine whether the
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
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 SpeciesThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1948, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is the world's main authority on the conservation...
.
Another extinction that occurred after the flooding is that of the
Lake Pedder planarianThe Lake Pedder planarian was a species of invertebrate in the Kenkiidae family.- Distribution and conservation status :...
(
Romankenkius pedderensis), an endemic
flatwormThe flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes 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 SpeciesThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1948, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is the world's main authority on the conservation...
.
The
Pedder galaxiasPedder 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
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
, 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 ArthursThe 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.
Chronology
- 1 million years ago: Glacial outwash blocks the flow of the Serpentine River. A unique glacial lake is formed nine square kilometres in area with a beach of pink quartz sand three kilometre long and nearly one kilometre wide.
- 20000 years ago: Aboriginal people lived in the area and frequented the Lake.
- 1835: Surveyor John Wedge names the lake “Pedder” after the Chief Justice of the colony sir John Lewes Pedder
- 1874: Landscape painter William Piguenit
William Charles Piguenit was an Australian landscape painter.-Early Life:Piguenit was born in Hobart, Tasmania, to Frederick Le Geyt Piguenit and Mary Ann neé Igglesden. Frederick had been transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1830, with Frederick's fiancee, Mary Ann, following him...
visits and paints at Lake Pedder
- 1898: A branch of the Port Davey track
The South Coast and Port Davey tracks in the South Coast Tasmania region are two bushwalking tracks in the Southwest National Park of Tasmania, Australia, linked at Melaleuca. The tracks can be walked separately or together as a long continuous trek requiring around 10 days.The 85km South Coast...
reaches Lake Pedder
- 1946: The first light plane landing is made on the 3 km beach
- 1955: The Lake becomes the heart and focus of the newly gazetted Lake Pedder National Park
- 1967: Premier Eric Reece
Eric Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969 and 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975....
announces the Gordon Power schemeGordon Power Station is a hydroelectric power station below the Gordon Dam in south west Tasmania.It has three Francis style turbines, The first two turbines, each 144 MW, were commissioned in 1978. A third 144 MW turbine was commissioned in 1988 .The power station draws water from Lake Gordon,...
will “result in some modification to the Lake Pedder National Park”
- 1968: Lake Pedder National Park is incorporated in the Southwest National Park
The Southwest National Park is 6,052 km² in size and forms part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The park is Tasmania's largest and is located in the south-west of Tasmania, Australia....
- 1972: The world’s first Green Party
A Green party or ecologist party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of Green politics. These principles include environmentalism, reliance on grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and support for social justice causes, including those related to the rights of indigenous...
, the United Tasmania GroupThe 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...
(UTG) is formed to oppose the flooding.
- 1972: In spite of a massive campaign of national and international opposition, the lake is flooded to provide an extra 60MW of electricity.
- 1973: The Tasmanian government
The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
refuses an offer from the Commonwealth GovernmentThe Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
to fund a simple alternative version of the Gordon Scheme in order to save the lake.
- 1982: The Huon Serpentine impoundment (the new name of the flooded Lake Pedder) is included within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area because of the IUCN’s (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) express hope for its restoration of the natural lake.
- 1993: The IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation.Founded in 1948, its headquarters is located in the Lake Geneva area in Gland, Switzerland...
, meeting in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, passes a unanimous resolution calling for the restoration of the lake http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/environ/peddinq/peddrpt/appe.pdf.
- 1993: Scientific studies reveal that beneath 15 metres of water, the features of the Lake Pedder area – beach, dunes and Serpentine River – are unchanged under a few millimetres of silt.
- 1994: Pedder 2000 restoration campaign is launched in Hobart with national and international expressions of support.
See also
- Frankland Range
The 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....
- 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...
- Gordon Power Station
Gordon Power Station is a hydroelectric power station below the Gordon Dam in south west Tasmania.It has three Francis style turbines, The first two turbines, each 144 MW, were commissioned in 1978. A third 144 MW turbine was commissioned in 1988 .The power station draws water from Lake Gordon,...
- Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia.The Hydro was originally mainly oriented towards hydro-electricity due to Tasmania's dramatic topography and relatively high rainfall in the central and western...
- Tasmanian Wilderness Society
- The South West Book
The 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 Battles
Tasmania'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 Truchanas
Olegas 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 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
External links