Gordon River Dam provides water for hydroelectric power in southwestern Tasmania, Australia. This arch dam across the Gordon River is 460 feet (140 meters) high and has a capacity of over 9.2 million acre-feet (11.3 billion cubic meters) of water. An acre-foot equals the volume of a square container that is 1 foot (0.3 meter) high and has a base of 1 acre (0.4 hectare) in area.
In the 1970’s, environmental groups opposed the building of the Gordon River Dam because it involved flooding Lake Pedder. The Hydro-Electric Commission completed the project in 1976 despite this opposition. In the 1980’s, the Australian federal government intervened to stop the building of another dam across the Gordon River that would have flooded the Franklin River wilderness area.
