Lake Pedder
The Lake Pedder is a reservoir in the southwest of the Australian state of Tasmania.
Originally a arisen 10,000 years ago glacial lake with a size of 3 km ², it was dammed in 1972. Today he has a size of 242 square kilometers and is therefore likely to be the largest freshwater lake in Australia. Against the construction of the dam, there were numerous unsuccessful protests.
The name of the lake comes from the first Minister of Justice of Tasmania, John Pedder. A Lake Pedder National Park was founded in 1955 and later renamed the South West National Park.
Dam construction
The lake is artificially dammed up by three dams, the 38 m high Serpentine Dam, the 43 meter high rock -fill dam, and the 17 -meter-high dam Edgar. From the lake, the Serpentine River and the Huon River flow off. The dams were built to generate electricity.
Protest movement
The protests against the planned by the Tasmanian Government dam began in 1967, as the lake in the South West National Park, a conservation area was. Thereupon the Lake Pedder Action Committee was formed. Some members of the committee later founded the first " Green Party " of the world, the United Tasmania Group. Later, this went on in the Tasmanian Greens.
The Hydro Tasmania ( HEC), however, continued the construction against the growing protests of environmentalists who had extended over the whole of Tasmania and Australia, by.
Despite the failure in preventing the dam project, the Wilderness Society was formed in Tasmania. Today it is active across Australia and could prevent the construction of the Franklin Dam at Lake Pedder Thanks to the experience.
In 1994, the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee, which calls for the dismantling of dams founded.
Ecological consequences
The endemic worm Hypolimnus pedderensis could no longer be detected after the flooding of the lake. The also -lost endemic planarian Romankenkius pedderensis could be recovered recently. The freshwater fish Galaxias pedderensis (English Pedder galaxias ) exists only in captivity. Presumably, the adjuster is used by trout for his disappearance in the lake is the main cause. The sandy beaches of the original Lake Pedder are now under water.