The Gordon River Power Development

The Gordon River Power Development has four dams, including the mighty double-curvature arch of the Gordon Dam.
They create Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder, the nation's largest storage, almost 30 times the size of Sydney Harbour.

This is a region of very high rainfall - on average, 2'450mm of rain falls in the development's catchment area every year.
Snowmelt from surrounding mountains also replenishes the storages each spring.

The Gordon Power Development involved the flooding of the original lake Pedder, a small lake with a spectacular beach.
This became the focus of a national conservation campaign and although the flooding went ahead, there was strong opposition to further power development on the Gordon Rivet.

Lake Pedder water contributes 40% of the total power output of the development.
Stocked with brown trout, this beautiful lake is a popular destination for anglers.
The lagged quartzite peaks of the Frankland Range border the lake.

Lake Gordon is the development's major storage, created by the Gordon Dam.
The lake has a catchment area of 1'280 square kilometres and a surface area of about 250 square kilometres.

The two lakes are connected by the McPartlan Canal.
The McPartlan Pass Canal allows water to flow from the lake Pedder impoundment into the lake Gordon storage.
The flow in the canal is controlled by a radial gate - for aesthetic and recreational reasons, the level of lake Pedder is not allowed to vary more than 1.5 metres.

At 140 metres, Gordon Dam is nation's highest dam.
The double-curvature concrete arch spans a narrow gorge on the Gordon River.
The final concrete pour was made in 1974.

Water from Lake Gordon drops through an intake tunnel to the Gordon Power Station, 183 metres underground, before rejoining the Gordon River downstream of the dam.