Basslink is an undersea power cable which links Tasmania with the mainland electricity grid. It allows renewable energy generated in Tasmania to be traded on the National Electricity Market (NEM). The Basslink project was declared a Project of State Significance (1999) which meant that, before it could be approved by state and federal jurisdictions, it was subject to an integrated environmental, social and economic assessment.
Basslink Integrated Impact Assessment Statement Reports
Hydro Tasmania was responsible for investigating the impacts from the projected increases in peaking operations from its major power stations.
The investigation took two years, involved 25 independent researchers, and cost more than $2.5M to examine the Gordon, King and South Esk catchments. The studies followed the IIAS guidelines, released by the Basslink Joint Advisory Panel (JAP), and varied for each catchment in response to unique issues. A range of environmental and social aspects were examined encompassing hydrology, water quality, geomorphology, vegetation, instream biota, terrestrial biota, karst, cave biota, meromictic lakes, cultural heritage, public use and safety, World Heritage Area values, and landowner and industry issues.
The result was a major appendix to the IIAS, the summary report for the Basslink investigations (Locher 2001), which included 29 appendices from individual researcher's reports.
The Summary and Gordon River appendices follow:
Summary Report (PDF 36MB)
Appendix 1 - Scoping Report (PDF 8.76MB
Appendix 2 - Gordon River Hydrology Assessment (PDF 676KB)
Appendix 3 - Gordon River Water Quality Assessment (PDF 630KB)
Appendix 4 - Gordon River Fluvial Geomorphology Assessment (PDF 60.2MB)
Appendix 5 - Gordon River Karst Assessment (PDF 4.66MB)
Appendix 6 - Gordon River Riparian Vegetation Assessment (PDF 21.2 MB)
Appendix 7 - Gordon River Macroinvertebrate and Aquatic Mammal Assessment (PDF 2.11MB)
Appendix 8 - Gordon River Fish Assessment (PDF 834KB)
Appendix 9 - Gordon River Terrestrial Fauna Assessment (PDF 280KB)
Appendix 10 - Gordon River Cave Flora and Fauna Assessment (PDF 7.38MB)
Appendix 11 - Gordon River Meromictic Lakes Assessment (PDF 5.25MB)
Appendix 12 - Gordon River Cultural Heritage Assessment (PDF 14.3MB)
Appendix 13 - Gordon River Public Use Assessment (PDF 284KB)