Location West Coast, Tasmania Surface elevation 662 m | Basin countries Australia | |
Type natural lake, reservoir | ||
Lake Margaret (42°00′S 145°32′E) is the name of a lake high up on the north side of Mount Sedgwick,in the West Coast Range, West Coast of Tasmania in Australia. It was dammed in the early 1900s by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company. Following the closing of that company in the 1990s, the control of the dam went to Hydro Tasmania.
Contents
Map of Lake Margaret, TAS 7467, Australia
Dam
The dam was completed in 1918. It was the first gravity dam constructed in Tasmania and was built of concrete with conglomerate "plums". The dam was 17 metres high, had a length of 243 metres, and the wall has a volume of 6,000 cubic metres. In 1974 it was strengthened by the use of prestressed anchors and grouting of open joints.
Power scheme
A hydroelectric Lake Margaret Power Station and a townsite with the same name have been constructed. The purpose was to power the nearby mine and community surrounding the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company that was based in Queenstown. In the 1990s the HEC took over the operations.
Location
The lake lies just east of Mount Cyril (797m), and south of Mount Geikie (1191m) in the West Coast Range. Mount Sedgwick is to the south. The Bastion (1107M) north of Mount Geikie and Farquhar Lookout (935m) define a rough line of the northern part of the catchment area.
Catchment area
Numerous smaller lakes - some named and some not, lie above the location of the lake. The vesting of the catchment with the current operator of the hydro electric power station, makes the two feeder parts of the catchment specific Hydro land in contrast to the surrounding landscape which is either in the Tyndall Regional Reserve or the Lake Beatrice Conservation Area
The two southern feeder Hydro reserves start from the slopes of Mount Sedgwick- the westerly from Lake Barnables (less than 1 kilometre east of Lake Margaret, then to Lake Phillip. The eastern feeder starts at an 'Unnamed lake', to 'Lake Polycarp', 'Lake Peter', 'Lake Paul', 'Lake Apolllos' and then to Lake Phillip.
The northern feeder starts from Lake Monica, Lake Myra, then Lake Magdala (782 metres), Lake Martha (757 metres), and lastly Lake Mary (732 metres), before flowing into Lake Margaret ( 660 metres)
The larger lower altitude natural lake of the area lies to the south east side of Mount Sedgwick and is known as Lake Beatrice.
Yolande River
The outflow from the Lake Margaret dam is into the Yolande River which further west joins with the Langdon River, another West Coast Range west flowing river, to join with the Henty River west of the Zeehan Highway.