Lake Meadowbank farmers band together to avoid sting from Hydro dam upgrade

Plans to fix the dam gate at a lake relied upon by farmers and popular among shackies have come at a cost for the rural community, but negotiations have softened the blow.

Plans to fix the dam gate at a lake relied upon by farmers and popular among shackies have come at a cost to the rural community, but negotiations have softened the blow.

Sixteen irrigators with properties bordering Lake Meadowbank have been told the water level will be drawn down by 2m for maintenance works on the dam’s crest gate.

Near historic town of Ouse, a small town in the Central Highlands Council local government area in Tasmania along Lyell Highway, is the popular fishing spot of Lake Meadowbank which is just a few minutes south of Ouse.

While the project will cost $10m as maintenance occurs over 2022 and 2023, Meadowbank Irrigators Group spokesman Will Chapman said the fix would set farmers back at least $500,000 as Hydro has agreed to pay for half of their pump upgrade costs.

But Mr Chapman said the planned draw down could have inflicted more damage if it weren’t for seven months of negotiations.

Hydro initially planned to lower the water level from November 2021 through to May 2022, which the lamb farmer said was an important time for farmers to pump water.

Lake Meadowbank near Hamilton and Ouse. Picture: MATT THOMPSON.

“We pushed so they would do it between February and May,” he said.

“We’ve since negotiated they’re going to delay the project another 12 months.”

The set back gives farmers time to lower their pumps so they can still access the important water supply when works are underway over one period in 2022 and a second period in 2023.

Mr Chapman said properties bordering the lake delivered “the full gamut of agriculture” including dairy, beef, wool, lamb, poppy crops, cabbage seed and seed crops, cherry orchards and vineyards.

Lake Meadowbank by reader Ang Buckley

He said a cost analysis revealed overall indirect costs, including lost revenue in tourism, had dropped from an estimated $7.5m to $3m because the project was pushed back and moved to off-peak seasons.

“There’d have to be 100 or so shackies along that lake, some of which are used for tourism, and if people are unable to use that for the late part of summer, no one can fish or do any of those activities,” Mr Chapman said.

A Wakeboarder at the Tasmanian State Titles for Grom Girls in Wakeboarding at Lake Meadowbank. Picture: Supplied.

A Hydro Tasmania spokesman said safe and reliable energy sources at times caused “unavoidable impacts on businesses and communities”.

“The gates have been in place for 50 years and their 20 hydraulic cylinders are reaching the end of their service life and need replacing,” the spokesman said.

“These gates hold back 60 million metric tonnes of water, providing both energy security for the state and flood protection for the Derwent Valley.

Lake Meadowbank by reader Sean Dargaville

“Because the welfare of the community and livestock is of paramount importance to Hydro Tasmania, we offered to meet the full cost of permanently modifying infrastructure that supplies water to families and animals, ensuring neither are put at risk as a result of our work.”

He said the Tarraleah power station redevelopment would not affect the water level of Lake Meadowbank.