Breaking the spirit of the wild
THE flooding of Lake Pedder was a tragic, avoidable mistake. We must learn from the past, writes Nicholas Sawyer
Opinion
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SIXTY years ago, on March 8, 1955, 24,000ha of South-West Tasmania, including the isolated and beautiful Lake Pedder, was proclaimed as the Lake Pedder National Park.
This entire area is now part of the much larger Southwest National Park in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area but the original lake, about 3km by 4km, now lies 15m below the much larger hydro impoundment of the same name.
In 1955, the South-West was sometimes referred to as Tasmania’s empty quarter — a roadless area which extended south and west from the Lyell Highway to the coast.
It was accessible only by a few rough walking tracks and the only national parks in this large area were Mt Field and Frenchmans Cap.
It says much about the qualities of Lake Pedder that it was selected to be the next national park in an area that contained so many spectacular mountain ranges and magnificent coastlines.
There was a public expectation the dedication of the national park meant Lake Pedder was permanently protected.
Lake Pedder lay near the centre of the empty quarter.
It was about three days’ walk from the nearest road, just beyond Maydena. Some visitors flew in by light aircraft to land on the extensive beach, which was revealed when the water level dropped slightly in summer.
It lay at the foot of the spectacular Frankland Range.
Its origins were glacial but it was not gouged out by a glacier in the manner of so many of Tasmania’s alpine lakes, it was formed by the action of multiple natural forces on glacial outwash sediments. This resulted in an extraordinary landform complex unique on Earth.
It says much about the qualities of Lake Pedder that it was selected to be the next national park in an area that contained so many spectacular mountain ranges and magnificent coastlines.
In 1963, construction of the federally funded Strathgordon Rd started to provide access for the construction of the Middle Gordon Hydro Electric Scheme.
This was followed in 1965 by the premier’s announcement that “there would be some modification of Lake Pedder National Park”.
By 1967 it was apparent this “modification” would involve the inundation of Lake Pedder and the Save Lake Pedder National Park Committee was formed.
The role of the impoundment which flooded Lake Pedder was to divert the waters of the upper Huon and Serpentine rivers into Lake Gordon and thence the Strathgordon Power Station.
Alternatives were proposed that would have avoided flooding the lake, with only a small loss of power generation capacity, but these never received serious consideration.
By early 1972, water was rising behind the Serpentine Dam. The campaigners formed the United Tasmania Group — arguably the world’s first green party — to contest the state election and came within 150 votes of winning a seat.
In August, 1972, the rising waters of the impoundment closed over the lake.
But it has not been forgotten.
Committees of inquiry in 1973 and 1995 both found that restoration was likely to be feasible but would involve significant cost.
Edward St John, QC, a member of the 1973 inquiry, independently added: “There is very fortunately … an opportunity to repent … if not we ourselves, the day will come when our children will undo what we so foolishly have done”.
Some of those responsible for the flooding of the original Lake Pedder subsequently acknowledged that it was a mistake.
Although the focus of the campaign was on saving Lake Pedder, the impact on the wilderness quality of South-West Tasmania could not have been greater.
The HEC’s Middle Gordon Scheme occupied the geographical heart of the empty quarter and the associated roads revolutionised access.
The campaign to save Lake Pedder was lost but it earned a place in history as Australia’s first major dispute involving development and the environment.
It set the stage for the Franklin campaign a decade later. Loss of wilderness — captured in the slogan “The Last Wild River” — became the major theme of the Franklin campaign.
Considerably more information on the proposed hydro scheme was made available, although it fell far short of what would soon be considered normal for an open and transparent environmental impact assessment.
The Franklin campaigners were far more politically savvy than the Pedder campaigners had been initially, and the Franklin campaign commenced well before construction work, in contrast to the Pedder campaign which did not really get going until the dams were taking shape.
Some of those responsible for the flooding of the original Lake Pedder subsequently acknowledged that it was a mistake. Restoring Lake Pedder would confirm Tasmania’s global reputation for wilderness and establish it as a centre of excellence in environmental restoration.
HYDRO COOL ON PULLING THE PLUG ON LAKE PEDDER
Fifty years after the decision to flood Lake Pedder, a new draft management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area proposes to relax controls on tourism development and disregards the area’s wilderness qualities.
GOVERNMENT REVEALS NEXT WAVE OF WILDERNESS PROJECTS
Surely we can learn from the Pedder story and refrain from making further decisions that will be soon be regretted and need to be rectified.
Nicholas Sawyer isa member of Lake Pedder Restoration Incorporated. These are his personal views.
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