Environmental activists have taken their campaign to restore Lake Pedder to the doorstep of the Premier, staging a protest outside his office and calling on the government to reconsider Hydro Tasmania’s plans to reinforce ‘high-risk’ dams.
The activists say restoring the lake within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is essential for the state’s ecological future.
Lake Pedder currently lies beneath 15-meters of water in the Huon Serpentine Impoundment, which was created for hydroelectricity.
Activists say when the World Heritage boundaries were drawn up, it was done with the intention that Lake Pedder would one day be drained and restored.
“52-years later, the dams surrounding the impoundment are ageing and are shown to be ‘high risk’ of failing in an earthquake, as they are built on an active fault line,” they said.
“There has been no proper cost-benefit analysis undertaken comparing the millions in infrastructure required to upkeep ageing dams, compared to the potential benefits which could come from becoming a global leader in ecosystem restoration [by] decommissioning the dams.”
“Hydro Tasmania’s own flood mapping shows a disastrous outcome for the Huon Valley if the upstream dams, built on a fault line, fail in an earthquake.”
“Within a day, the Huon River would rise nine metres, causing a catastrophe in [Huonville] and surrounding farmland.”
The Greens have raised concerns about the dams’ continued ‘significant ecological impacts’ on wilderness areas, local species and the overall flora and fauna of Tasmania’s south-west.
“It’s very concerning that the government isn’t prioritising our most precious asset,” Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff said.
The state government maintains that Lake Pedder is crucial for Hydro Tasmania’s renewable energy production.
They say decommissioning the dam would be an ‘economic and environmental disaster’.
