Lake Pedder

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Original Lake Pedder, 1970
Original Lake Pedder, 1970

Lake Pedder is a former natural lake, located in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia, and the name used to refer to the artificial reservoir formed when the original lake was flooded by damming in 1972.
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[edit] Lake Pedder and 'New' Lake Pedder

The lake was named after Sir John Pedder, the first Chief Justice of Tasmania. The name of the original lake has been 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 water catchment contained by three dams - the Serpentine, Scotts Peak and Edgar Dams.

The dams were built as part of the Upper Gordon River power development scheme to provide hydro-electricity by the HEC. These dams were completed in 1972 as part of a push by the Government to increase industry in the State by providing cheap renewable energy in the 1970s.

The new impoundment, known as the Huon Serpentine impoundment, is joined with Lake Gordon by McPartlan Canal, and together both lakes form the biggest water-storage catchment in Australia.

Three dams exist on the impoundment:

  • Serpentine is a 38 m high rockfill dam with a concrete upstream face on the Serpentine River.
  • Scotts Peak is a 43 m high rockfill dam with a bitumen upstream face on the upper reaches of the Huon River near Scotts Peak.
  • Edgar is a 17 m high rockfill dam at Lake Edgar near Scotts Peak.

[edit] Damming

There were many protests concerning the construction of the dam as it flooded. 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. Individuals such as the politician "Electric Eric" Eric Reece and Allan Knight, the HEC CEO at the time, were seen as staunch defenders of the 'damming' of Tasmania against any opinion to the contrary.

The community feeling extended well beyond Tasmania 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 prior to damming 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.

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, which occasionally re-enters the public consciousness.

[edit] Lake Pedder Extinctions

The Lake Pedder Earthworm (Hypolimnus pedderensis) is only known by the type specimen collected from a beach on Lake Pedder, Tasmania in 1971. After the changes of the lake this animal was never seen again. A survey in 1996 that was carried out to determine whether this species still existed in the area failed to find the animal. The Lake Pedder Earthworm is since 2003 listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Another extinction that occurred after the changes to the lake is that of the Lake Pedder Planarian (Romankenkius pedderensis), an endemic flatworm. This animal is listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1996.

The Pedder galaxias, is considered extinct in its natural habitat of Lake Pedder and its tributaries, but still exists in captivity and in a translocated population at Lake Oberon in the Western Arthurs.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] 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 visits and paints at Lake Pedder
  • 1898: A branch of the Port Davey track 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
  • 1968: Lake Pedder National Park is incorporated in the Southwest National Park
  • 1967: Premier Eric Reece announces the Gordon Power scheme will “result in some modification to the Lake Pedder National Park”
  • 1972: The world’s first Green Party, the United Tasmania Group (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 refuses an offer from the Commonwealth Government 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, meeting in Buenos Aires, passes a unanimous resolution calling for the restoration of the lake [1].
  • 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: Comalco closes its third potline aluminium smelter. Tasmania’s power surplus reaches 130MW
  • 1994: Pedder 2000 restoration campaign is launched in Hobart with national and international expressions of support. [2]

[edit] References

  • Gee, H and Fenton, J. (Eds) (1978) The South West Book - A Tasmanian Wilderness Melbourne, Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0-85802-054-8
  • 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

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 42°56′S, 146°08′E

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