Lake Gordon

Lake Gordon is a big lake. It is in Tasmania. This land is in Australia. A dam made the lake. It sits on the Gordon River. This is the largest lake in Tasmania. It holds a lot of water. The water helps make power. A canal links it to another lake. Sometimes the water gets very low. This happened in 2016. Then the rain came. The water rose up high. It is a very special place.

Lake Gordon is a very large lake. It sits in south-west Tasmania. This is part of Australia. The lake is a reservoir. A reservoir is a place that holds water. A dam made this lake. It sits on the Gordon River. This is the largest lake in Tasmania. It can hold a lot of water. It holds twenty-five times more water than Port Jackson. A canal links it to Lake Pedder. This canal is the McPartlans Pass Canal. People built the dam in the early 1970s. It helps the Gordon Power Station. This station makes power from water. The dam was part of a big plan. Some people did not like the plan. They had many protests. In 2016, the water levels were very low. This was a time of energy crisis. But the dry weather ended soon. By July of the next year, the lake grew. The water rose by twenty metres in ten months.

Lake Gordon is a very large man-made lake. It sits in the south-west region of Tasmania. Tasmania is a state in Australia. This lake is actually a reservoir. A reservoir is a place that holds water for people to use. It was made by the Gordon Dam. This dam sits on the upper parts of the Gordon River. The lake is very important for making electricity. It acts as a storage area for the Gordon Power Station. This station is a huge part of the power plan in Tasmania.

The lake works by holding a massive amount of water. It collects water from a large catchment area. This area is the land where rain flows into the lake. Lake Gordon is the largest lake in all of Tasmania. It has a very big surface area. The lake can hold a huge amount of water inside it. This amount is twenty-five times more than the water in Port Jackson. A canal called the McPartlans Pass Canal connects it to Lake Pedder.

People built this lake in the early 1970s. The Hydro-Electricity Commission of Tasmania was the group in charge. They built the dam to help the Gordon Power Station. This project was the largest hydro-electric power scheme in Tasmania. However, it was also a very controversial plan. This means many people had strong feelings about it. Some people thought the plan was a good idea for power. Others were worried about the land and the river.

There were many big arguments about building more dams. A group called The Wilderness Society led many protests. They wanted to stop more dams on the lower Gordon River. This led to the famous Franklin Dam controversy in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Australian Government stepped in to help. They stopped the Tasmanian Government from damming the lower Gordon. The High Court of Australia even made a ruling on this. Because of this, the lower Gordon River was not dammed.

Sometimes, the weather can change how much water is in the lake. In early 2016, the water levels were very low. This happened during the 2016 Tasmanian energy crisis. It was the lowest water supply ever recorded for the lake. But the dry weather did not last forever. The drought ended by July of the next year. The lake grew by twenty metres in only ten months. It is amazing how much the water can rise when it rains.

Lake Gordon is a massive man-made reservoir in Tasmania. It sits in the south-west region of Australia. This body of water was created by the Gordon Dam. The dam is located on the upper reaches of the Gordon River. This reservoir serves a very specific purpose for the region. It acts as an upper storage area for the Gordon Power Station. This station is a major part of the state's energy system. The project is part of the largest hydro-electric power scheme in Tasmania.

The reservoir functions through a complex system of water management. It draws water from a very large catchment area. A catchment area is the land where rain flows into a single body of water. The Gordon Dam holds this water back to create a deep storage space. This stored water is then used to power the Gordon Power Station. This process turns the movement of water into electricity. The scale of this system is truly enormous. Lake Gordon is currently the largest lake in all of Tasmania.

Lake Gordon has impressive physical dimensions and storage capabilities. It covers a vast surface area across the landscape. The total storage capacity is a massive amount of water. To understand its size, consider a comparison to Port Jackson. The reservoir holds twenty-five times the amount of water found in Port Jackson. It is also physically connected to another body of water. The McPartlans Pass Canal links Lake Gordon to Lake Pedder. This canal allows water to move between these two locations.

The history of this lake began in the early 1970s. The Hydro-Electricity Commission of Tasmania managed the construction. They built the dam to support the growing need for power. However, the project was not without significant tension. It became known as a very controversial hydro-electric scheme. Many people had different views on how the land should be used. This debate shaped the history of environmental politics in Australia. The construction changed the geography of the Gordon River forever.

Political debates grew even larger regarding the lower Gordon River. Groups like The Wilderness Society led protests against more dams. They wanted to protect the natural state of the river. This led to the famous Franklin Dam controversy in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Australian Government under Prime Minister Hawke intervened. They overturned a decision made by the Tasmanian Government. The Tasmanian Government had wanted to dam the lower Gordon. This led to a major legal battle in the High Court of Australia. The case is known as Commonwealth v Tasmania. The court ruled in favor of the Australian Government. As a result, the lower Gordon River was never dammed.

Environmental changes can also impact the lake's water levels. In early 2016, Tasmania faced a major energy crisis. During this time, the lake hit its lowest recorded water levels. This was caused by a period of very dry weather. However, the water levels can change quite rapidly. By July of the following year, the drought had finally ended. In just ten months, the lake swelled by twenty metres. This shows how much the reservoir relies on rainfall and weather patterns.

Lake Gordon remains a central part of Tasmania's infrastructure. It connects the natural world with human engineering needs. The lake is a part of a larger World Heritage Area. This area is listed by UNESCO for its global importance. The balance between power production and conservation is still a key topic. The reservoir continues to provide storage for the Gordon Power Station. It stands as a massive example of how humans shape the Earth's geography.