Lake Pedder is a special place for Melva Truchanas.
Now in her early 90s, she was once an avid bushwalker, and unlike the vast majority of Tasmanians alive today, she saw the lake before it was flooded when three dams were built.
It's also where she met her husband, the late conservationist Olegas Truchanas.
"You didn't have to have done it, or have looked at it, you just had to know that in the heart of Tasmania, you had something beautiful," she said.
"But like many things between then and now, things that were beautiful and special weren't treated well, weren't considered to be special, and they'd be destroyed."
Before 1972, Lake Pedder was an alpine lake adorned by a pink quartzite beach, nestled among untouched mountain ranges.
For bushwalkers, it was a sight to behold.
For the Tasmanian government, which dreamed of Tasmania's dominance as a hydro-electricity powerhouse, it was the perfect spot for a hydro-electric dam.
When activists found out the lake, in the middle of a national park, was slated to be flooded, they took to the streets.
Of the protesters, then-premier Eric "Electric" Recce said: "These people can be compared to some degree with Dr Frankenstein, who was a very kindly man but he created a monster that he couldn't control."
The protests spurred what is now recognised as the first Green party in the world, and for many, it was a political awakening.
It is credited for being the precursor to the successful campaign to stop the damming of the Franklin River.
Dick Friend was inbetween courses at university when he decided to find out what the fuss was about.
Like others at the time, he decided to take a trip out to the lake, to witness it before it was flooded.
"I didn't intend to be involved at all … but having got into Lake Pedder and seen it I then went to a public meeting in the town hall," he said.
"I began to question things a lot more. I became a more inquisitive person, more interested in the direction of society."
As the campaign to save the lake ramped up, Melva's husband Olegas travelled there to take photos.
"He had to do some teaching and bring back more information and make people aware of what they were about to lose," she said.
"There was a sort of incredulity that people couldn't possibly touch it because it was a park and therefore protected and therefore it wouldn't be in danger.
"We were very innocent politically back in the 1960s and we learnt the hard way. People who were going to make money and power and prestige from doing something very spectacular with our national park … we didn't believe they could be that brash."
The new push to restore the lake
In the end, the campaign failed.
Three dams now sit near Lake Pedder: the Edgar, the Serpentine and Scott's Peak dams.
Water from the dams flows into the Gordon River dam, feeding the adjoining power station.
Combined with Lake Gordon, it is the largest storage of water in Australia and contributes approximately 13 per cent of Tasmania's total power generation.
But on the 50th anniversary of the lake's flooding, there are still people who want to see the waters over Pedder drained, and the lake restored.
Former federal Greens leader Christine Milne, who is now the convenor of the Restore Lake Pedder Campaign, said the timing was right, amid the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.
"The average life of a dam is about 50 years. In the US they've pulled down almost 2,000 dams. We don't have a history of that here but it's happening all around the world," she said.
The Tasmanian government estimates it would take $65 million to maintain the Scott's Peak and Edgars dams over the next 10 years.
"As the years go by and they age even further, there are going to be costs associated with maintaining those dams," Ms Milne said.
In 2020, the campaign's divers surveyed the lake's floor.
They claim the pink quartzite beach and dune system remains in place.
"The asset value to Tasmania of being a world leader in ecosystem restoration is immeasurable," Ms Milne said.
"Can you just imagine the global interest in Tasmania as the waters started to recede?"
Could the hydro system do without Pedder?
Lake Pedder makes up about 40 per cent of inflows into the Gordon scheme, and accounts for up to 6 per cent of Hydro Tasmania's revenue.
Hydro Tasmania said the long-duration energy that Pedder supplied was essential to fill gaps when wind and solar are unavailable, and to counter variations in rainfall.
But according to Evan Franklin, an associate professor of energy and power systems at the University of Tasmania, if the government replaced its role in the system, the system might be able to do without it.
He said Lake Pedder made up about 5 per cent of Tasmania's total energy production.
"Certainly from an energy perspective it's possible to drain Lake Pedder without impacting the energy system too greatly," he said.
"If you took Lake Pedder away you'd probably be looking to replace the energy with some new renewable generation and you'd also be looking to replace that firming ability and flexibility that the Gordon offers, perhaps with something like a large battery system."
But with the world looking to new renewable electricity generation and storage, draining the lake would be bucking the trend.
"We'd be running a lot less water through the Gordon power station, it would be an under-utilised asset," Dr Franklin said.
There is also the question of cost.
In order to replace the energy lost from Pedder, Dr Franklin estimates it would cost around $500 million, as well as the potential for $50 million per year of lost revenue for Hydro Tasmania.
In 1995, the federal government held an inquiry to assess the merit of restoring the lake.
At the time it was estimated it could take anywhere between $500 million and $2.5 billion just to revegetate the area after it was drained.
Today, the Tasmanian government claims it is 100 per cent net self-sufficient in renewable energy, and says it needs Pedder to get to 200 per cent.
"We don't want to go backwards. [Decommissioning the dam] would be an economic tragedy for Tasmania and an environmental tragedy as well," Energy Minister Guy Barnett said.
"Lake Pedder feeds into the Gordon, it's the largest power station for Tasmania. This is incredibly important to our energy credentials in Tasmania.
"Tasmania is poised to be the renewable powerhouse of the country, and Lake Pedder is a vital part of that overall package which will play an important role in Australia's transition to a renewables/net-zero future.''
New generation taking on the cause
Andy Szollosi is cycling from Hobart to Canberra to raise money and awareness for the Restore Lake Pedder campaign.
Like the vast majority of Tasmanians, he only knows the original lake through photos.
"I was mesmerised, I couldn't stop looking at it. It awakened something in here that I can't describe or explain," he said.
"We take so much from nature and I think it's time to return something, not for our own sake, but for the sake of the place, for the sake of the landscape."
Ms Milne believes the lake's restoration would bring hope to young people.
"Giving hope to young people in an age of climate anxiety is critical," she said.
"I see this as a project that would lift up Tasmanians, lift us up in terms of self-esteem and leadership … but particularly give young people something to be really passionately involved with."
Editor's note 3/3/22: The language of this story was changed to reflect that Lake Pedder was flooded due to the creation of the dams but was not itself dammed.
