There are better and faster options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall, says Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould.
He says releasing water early from the dam when heavy rainfall has been forecast is one way to mitigate flooding along the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers catchment.
“We could also lower the drinking water storage of Warragamba to create an additional permanent air gap and offset this through greater use of the desalination plant that we are already paying for and that is currently not being utilised,” he says.
“This would allow us to redirect the billions of dollars that raising the dam wall would cost into flood evacuation routes and road infrastructure that is desperately needed for at-risk communities across Greater Western Sydney and which would also improve transport links on a day to day basis.
“Raising Warragamba Dam is not in the interests of Western Sydney, potentially costing over $2 billion and enabling developers to cover rural floodplains with housing, as well as the possibility of creating a sense of complacency from those still at risk of catastrophic flooding.”
His comments come as Wollondilly Council responds to the NSW government reports on raising the wall that are on exhibition for a short time before Christmas.
Council is also encouraging community members and organisations to have their say on the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) Preferred Infrastructure Report and Response to Submissions before December 12.
Council says its 2021 submission to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is included in the exhibited documents; however, it appears that the government hasn’t conceded any of the points made by council.
“There’s very little time to read all the detail in the reports currently on exhibition, let alone prepare a response, which makes it very challenging for anyone to provide meaningful feedback,” says Mayor Gould.
“It seems our concerns are repeatedly dismissed by the NSW government, despite the fact that the area that would be inundated as a consequence of the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall is almost entirely located within the Wollondilly local government area.”
Community members can submit their feedback to the Department at https://pp.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/majorprojects/projects/warragamba-dam-raising
I agree. I have been amazed in the past where we have the dam capacity at full and there are still water restrictions. Such restriction should be related to the rain expectation. There should also be a safety level so that if there is unexpected rain then there is room within the dam to manage the addition without need for overflow. The present management seems to suggest that if the capacity is increased then when that is reached then more rain will return to flooding.