The Colong Foundation for Wilderness has rejected comments made by Riverstone MP Kevin Conolly supporting the current proposal to raise Warragamba Dam’s wall.
The foundation’s wild rivers campaign manager, Harry Burkitt, issued a statement last week in response to comments Mr Conolly made during a speech to NSW Parliament on May 1, in which Mr Conolly said the current proposal to raise the wall by 14 metres would not result in increases to the dam’s permanent storage levels.
The foundation launched a campaign against the proposal in March, with Mr Burkitt saying justification “for massive over-development into the Hawkesbury's rural areas” was at the heart of the project.
“Infrastructure NSW have said they want to add over 130,000 people to the area in the next 30 years, massively increasing the risk to human life. Mr Conolly did not mention this in his speech to Parliament,” Mr Burkitt stated.
"We need to ensure that flood mitigation measures put in place for the Hawkesbury are not used to justify the mass over development of the floodplain, which is what is currently happening with this project.
"Contrary to what Mr Connolly has said, the Preliminary Environmental Assessment for the project explicitly states on page 13 that the gates will be replaced and the spillway will be raised by 14 metres - it is nothing like the five metre raising that was done in 1989.
"Issues surrounding dam integrity were solved in 2002 by the installation of the auxiliary spillway. The raising of the dam wall once again raises the question of dam integrity, with proponents now wanting to precariously hold an additional two Sydney Harbours of water above the communities of the Hawkesbury.”
Mr Conolly had also stated water would only be stored behind the dam for a period of “up to 14 days” following a flood, however Mr Burkitt said the environmental assessment stated otherwise.
"Mr Connolly is incorrect in stating the water will only be held back for 14 days. It has been explicitly stated on page 24 of the project’s Preliminary Environmental Assessment that it will be held back for up to five weeks,” he said.
"Arguing that there will be improved environmental outcomes downstream if the dam is raised is nothing short of ridiculous.
“The Hawkesbury River is one of the most regulated rivers in the state, and raising the dam will deprive downstream lagoons and wetlands of some of the last flushes of water they currently get. But ecosystems that live 120 metres up the side of mountains (behind the dam wall) are not meant to be drowned for weeks under water.
“It is absolutely a lose-lose situating for the environment.
"Flooding is absolutely a serious issue for existing communities in the Hawkesbury, and something needs to be done about it.
“We know there are a range of more effective alternatives to flood mitigation - they have been identified by experts in the field for years.
“These include tough development controls, management of the Warragamba Dam's existing capacity, flood levees, and most of all - flood evacuation routes that can get people out when there is a flood."