The Gordon Dam took ten years (1964-1974) to build, in southwestern Tasmania’s “wilderness”.
Its creation/raison d’être – Lake Gordon – is Tasmania’s largest lake.
When full – which it hardly ever is – that reservoir is Australia’s largest body of freshwater.
Most of the time, the actually largest freshwater body in Australia is another man-made one – Western Australia’s Lake Argyle, which always covers a much larger surface area than does Lake Gordon.
The Gordon Dam was in itself a very controversial project, but the bigger environmental battle (arguably, Australia’s most significant) was the subsequent one which eventually prevented construction of its intended “sibling” dam, downstream.
Click here, if the saga is new to you.
The featured image shows the dam-walled edge of Lake Gordon’s dark waters
The photo below, taken three minutes later from the Gordon Dam wall’s other side, looks down, 140 vertical metres.
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