Lake Pedder
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Lake Pedder is a lake, enlarged by flooding for a hydro electric dam, located in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia.
The current enlarged and dammed new Lake Pedder 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 Lake Pedder is joined with Lake Gordon by McPartlan Canal, and together both lakes are the biggest water-storage catchment in Australia.
Three dams exist on the new Lake Pedder:
- 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.
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.
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 River 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.
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.
See also
External links
- [Gordon River Power Scheme]
- [Panorama of new Lake Pedder]
- [Location of Lake Pedder on Google Maps]
- [Lake Pedder Restoration Committee]
- [Essay concerning the issues surrounding the Dam's contruction]
- [The Extinction Website]
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Hypolimnus pedderensis]
- [IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Romankenkius pedderensis]
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