Lake Gordon
| Company type | Reservoir |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hydroelectric power |
| Founded | 1970s |
| Founder | Hydro-Electricity Commission of Tasmania |
| Headquarters | Tasmania , Australia |
| Products | Water storage for hydroelectric power generation |
Lake Gordon is an artificial reservoir formed by the construction of the Gordon Dam, situated on the upper section of the Gordon River in south-western Tasmania, Australia.
Features
Built during the early 1970s by the Hydro-Electricity Commission of Tasmania, this reservoir functions as the primary storage source for the Gordon Power Station, which stands as Tasmania's largest and most debated hydro-electric power facility.
Spanning a catchment area of , Lake Gordon ranks as Tasmania's most extensive lake, encompassing and containing (12.5 ) of water—an amount roughly 25 times greater than that of Port Jackson. It is linked to Lake Pedder through the McPartlans Pass Canal located at .
Controversy
Plans for additional dams on the lower Gordon River encountered strong political resistance, especially from The Wilderness Society, during the early 1980s' Franklin Dam controversy. In 1983, the federal government led by Bob Hawke intervened to overturn Tasmania's plans to dam the lower Gordon. When Tasmania declined to stop construction within the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Area, the Australian Government obtained a High Court ruling in Commonwealth v Tasmania, which prohibited further damming downstream.
Tasmanian Energy Crisis
During early 2016, Lake Gordon reached record low water levels amid the 2016 Tasmanian energy crisis, adversely affecting hydroelectric power output. By July 2017, after substantial rainfall over ten months, water levels had increased by twenty metres, easing drought conditions and improving energy reliability.