Restoring Lake Pedder

[stepbystep]

Interesting corvus I didn't know there were aboriginal hut sites in at Lees, but it's not surprising. Most of the Tassie landscape was carefully managed if you know what you are looking at. Lees is certainly no exception. Area's like the Tarkine are incredible in that regard. I'm not dissing Lees, it's a really beautiful place. Nice to hear you speaking of a place you love poetically, imagine if they wanted to dam that valley...
I'm not going to engage in tit-for-tats, the draining and restoration of Pedder is a monumental task but it's far from a fanciful notion, it(dismantling dams) is happening all over the world presently for sound economic and environmental reasons. It would(in my opinion) be a grand statement and a way of making the TWWHA more 'whole', but as someone pointed out to me the other day, until all the players in the original disaster are dead and buried it probably won't happen. Dream big I say

[corvus]

Possibly Huts however I was commenting on "rock shelters" and a "cave" .

[Stibb]

I flew in how many of you commenting here actually saw it ?

Well, it is a bit tricky since they flooded it all those years ago...

Does that mean I don't have a say or what?

[corvus]

I flew in how many of you commenting here actually saw it ?

Well, it is a bit tricky since they flooded it all those years ago...

Does that mean I don't have a say or what?

By all means have your say express your opinion it is a free world after all .

[GPSGuided]

By all means have your say express your opinion it is a free world after all .

There's a cost to everything, unfortunately and in case you didn't realise.

[tas-man]

I flew in how many of you commenting here actually saw it ?

I walked in from Scotts Peak as my very first bushwalking trip to Tasmania in December 1971 . . . and the experience truly changed the direction of my life. The symbolism of attempting the restoration of the original Lake Pedder would be an astounding practical statement of the value of our natural environment that we are all totally dependent upon.

[Stibb]

I flew in how many of you commenting here actually saw it ?

Well, it is a bit tricky since they flooded it all those years ago...

Does that mean I don't have a say or what?

By all means have your say express your opinion it is a free world after all .

So what kind of comment was that?
What do you really mean?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Well, it is a bit tricky since they flooded it all those years ago...

Does that mean I don't have a say or what?[/quote]



So what kind of comment was that?
What do you really mean?[/quote]

+1

[devoswitch]

Pretty funny reading through this forum. You all bicker like a bunch of school girls! ( no offence to the school girls on this site).

[GPSGuided]

Pretty funny reading through this forum. You all bicker like a bunch of school girls! ( no offence to the school girls on this site).

If you call this 'school girl bickering', you have serious forum experience deficiencies.

[devoswitch]

You're probably right. I spend way too much time actually being outdoors and living my life

[headwerkn]

Whilst most here are supportive of drainage, is there the same level of support out there in Tassie society? How much and where the resistance is to push this through?

At an educated guess - "no", "massive" and "pretty much everywhere".

Actually, it's not so much resistance but sheer indifference. Basically, no one cares.

I can appreciate other people's passion for the topic but honestly, draining Lake Pedder and returning it to its pre-hydro state wouldn't even come close to being in general community's Top 1000 List of Things That Need Fixing in Tasmania.

Part of the issue - the lake in its current state doesn't look like an ecological disaster. As far as hydro-modified lakes go, it's arguably the most scenic and natural looking one we have. Compare it to Great Lake in its current heavily drawn-down state, for example, many people probably wouldn't even be aware that it's been dammed.

Even if it were achievable politically and financially, even if the lake did go back to its original state within a human lifetime and the quartzite beach is still intact - and they're all big, BIG ifs - I don't see how tourism would be improved without doing something drastic with Strathgordon itself. I've been a few times over the past decade and a bit and, even though it was the place I caught my first trout, each time I shake my head wondering why the hell I bothered. Even as a fisherman I find the town dreary, the accommodation 'option' decidedly low rent and the place generally boring. Unless you're there to fish, use it as a starting point for a hike/packraft adventure or enjoy marvelling at feats of civil engineering, there's not a real lot going on there. Shrinking the lake won't change that. I think it's easy to overestimate just how many people are willing to drive 5hrs return from Hobart just to see pink sand (again, assuming the beach could even be restored).

I'll merrily eat my words if I'm wrong, but odds are we'll see an undersea Tasmania-Victoria tunnel before we see Lake Pedder drained and returned to its original state. There just isn't the will or interest outside of small minority grounds, like here.

Cheers, Ben.

[headwerkn]

You're probably right. I spend way too much time actually being outdoors and living my life

Congratulations sir, you've won the Internets

[devoswitch]

What do I win?

[icefest]

even if the lake did go back to its original state within a human lifetime and the quartzite beach is still intact - and they're all big, BIG ifs

I agree pretty much with all you've said, bar one thing - the quarzite beach is still intact, with the wheel ruts of the last planes that landed there still visible. There is >5cm of sediment on the lake bed.

It's pretty unlikely to happen though as you said.

[geoskid]

I agree pretty much with all you've said, bar one thing - the quarzite beach is still intact, with the wheel ruts of the last planes that landed there still visible. There is >5cm of sediment on the lake bed.

I know that claim is often repeated, but can anyone here direct me to the evidence for it.
Thanks in advance.

[GPSGuided]

Is there no current under that lake?

[geoskid]

There would be 240 square kilometers to re-plant. Thats 240 million square meters of barren Neoproterozoic quartzites, not comparable with ultra-fertile andesitic pyroclastics from Mt St Helens as mentioned by someone earlier. I would like to see Lake Pedder as it was, but draining would not work I think. Have you seen the old airstrip on the buttongrass plain on the Bombadier track north of the Denisons? It has been there for over fifty years and looks far from recovered.
I think we might need to wait until the next interglacial, give it another 120,000 years.

Yes, this is a good point. I think the proponents of this development are making a tactical error that the wider environmental community will have to deal with.

If it is considered technically possible to rehabilitate this vast area to something that is acceptable to tourists, then they necessarily must accept that the same can be done for mining and forestry operations.

[GPSGuided]

I think the proponents of this development are making a tactical error that the wider environmental community will have to deal with.

If it is considered technically possible to rehabilitate this vast area to something that is acceptable to tourists, then they necessarily must accept that the same can be done for mining and forestry operations.

An excellent point!

[maddog]

I agree pretty much with all you've said, bar one thing - the quarzite beach is still intact, with the wheel ruts of the last planes that landed there still visible. There is >5cm of sediment on the lake bed.

I know that claim is often repeated, but can anyone here direct me to the evidence for it.
Thanks in advance.

Kevin Kiernan refers to a 1994 video shown on the ABC that 'revealed...tyre tracks of light aircraft...visible more than two decades later' here. Presumably one could contact the ABC and request access to the archive.

Kiernan points out that it doesn't really matter anyway as such features might be expected to rapidly reform following drainage of the dam.

Cheers,

Maddog.

[tas-man]

<SNIP> Kiernan points out that it doesn't really matter anyway as such features might be expected to rapidly reform following drainage of the dam.

Cheers,
Maddog.

Read the complete paper here - http://eprints.utas.edu.au/10096/

[icefest]

I know that claim is often repeated, but can anyone here direct me to the evidence for it.
Thanks in advance.

Trip report from 2010: http://www.tudc.org.au/diving/dive.php? ... ew&dive=96
and the suzuki report.

[Nuts]

Yawn. As happens from those urban grounded green, lets mention Pedder, the timing almost seems designed for sabotage. Yet again.
Not necessarily a 'fault' just pie in sky confounding any conservation focus. Speaks volumes for the divide between (closeted & cute) bleeding heart green 'concerns' and the reality of what the big conservation issues are in this state. Nothing else going on? lets demand more trees saved, more visions realized, manipulate fact and logic in the process.

It seems reasonable to expect that silt to be very rich, exposed to aerobic process and a little help I don't think it would take long to get back a buttongrass filled valley. Parks may even be able to market the product (a nice lake) beyond what it is and someones mate or family may even be able to turn a local profit.