Tooms Lake

Tooms Lake is the name of both a lake and a village in the eastern midlands of Tasmania. The lake is artificial and shallow,[1] covering 6.6 km2 (2.5 sq mi).[2]

Tooms Lake
Tasmania
Aerial photo from the east, the village is at the top of the lake
Tooms Lake
Coordinates42°14′S 147°48′E
Population271 (?)
Postcode(s)7209
Elevation464 m (1,522 ft)
Location83 km (52 mi) N of Hobart
LGA(s)North Midlands Council
State electorate(s)Lyons
Federal Division(s)Lyons

The lake was once a wetland and was a Tasmanian aboriginal meeting place.[3] The indigenous name for this place was moyantaliah (moy.en.tel.eea).[4]

The lake can hold 25.362 gigaliters of water.[5] The catchment area is 60.2 km². It is drained by the Tooms River, which flows into the Macquarie River. The lake is reached by the gravel Tooms Lake Road,[6] 83 km from Hobart.[7] Seaplanes land on the lake several times per year.[8]

The lake is used for recreational fishing, for brown and rainbow trout.[9] Brown trout were introduced in 1904 and rainbow trout were released around 1908. Trout are usually 1 to 1 1⁄2 kg (2.2 to 3.3 lb) with the largest 2 1⁄2 kg (5.5 lb).[2] Kuth Energy is drilling a geothermal energy exploration borehole in the area called Tooms1.[10]

Other creatures found in Tooms Lake are Galaxias maculatus or jollytail.

Amenities

Amenities include a camping ground, boat ramp, public toilet and rubbish bin. There are no shops or public phone service.[11] The lake is 468 m above sea level.[12]

Water flowing from the Tooms Lake has an average electrical conductivity of 74 μS/cm.[13]

Tooms Lake
map with settlement
LocationTasmania
Coordinates42.232°S 147.796°E / -42.232; 147.796 (Tooms Lake)
Lake typereservoir
Primary inflowsJimmys Creek
Primary outflowsTooms River
Catchment area60.2 km2 (23.2 sq mi)
Basin countriesAustralia
Surface area6.6 km2 (2.5 sq mi)
Water volume25.362 gigalitres (895,700,000 cu ft)
Surface elevation468 m (1,535 ft)
Frozenno
Islandsnone

History

On 6 December 1828 a massacre of Tasmanian aborigines occurred where ten were killed by nine soldiers from the 40th regiment.[14] John Danvers, the guide of the group, reported to the Oatlands police magistrate:

One of them getting up from a small fire to a large one, discovered us and gave the alarm to the rest, and the whole of them jumpt (sic) up immediately and attempted to take up their spears in defence, and seeing that, we immediately fired and repeated it because we saw they were on the defensive part, they were about twenty in Number and several of whom were killed, two only were, unfortunately taken alive.

A woman and a boy were captured and the rest of the group escaped.[15]

The dam on the lake was built by 40 men.

References
  1. R L Croome and P A Tylor: Phytoplankton biomass and primary productivity of Lake Leake and Tooms Lake, Tasmania
  2. http://search.frdc.com.au/search/cache.cgi?collection=ifc&doc=http://www.ifc.tas.gov.au/pdf%252520files/Tooms%252520%252520FPA.pdf.pan.txt Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Plomley, Brian (2008). Friendly Mission (2 ed.). Hobart: Quintus. ISBN 9780977557226.
  4. Plomley, Brian (1992). Tasmanian Aboriginal place names. Hobart: QVMAG. p. 40.
  5. Lake Levels Database Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  6. http://www.domain.com.au/Public/suburbprofile.aspx?mode=research&searchTerm=Tooms%20Lake%5B%5D
  7. http://myboot.com.au/7209/Tooms%20Lake/suburb.aspx
  8. TAS Country Hour | ABC Rural (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  9. Tooms Lake — IFS Portal
  10. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Kuth_Energy_starts_drilling_at_Tooms_Lake_8G62T?OpenDocument
  11. Facilities - Tooms Lake Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Tooms Lake daily rain summaries
  13. http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/attachments/wweb-64p8a8/$file/sth%20esk%20basin%207%20macquarie%201.pdf
  14. "The Country Post". The Hobart Town Courier. 13 December 1828.
  15. "Abduction and Multiple Killings of Aborigines in Tasmania: 1804-1835" by Lyndall Ryan in Electronic Encyclopedia of Genocide and Massacre Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine

Resources
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