Warragamba Dam Raising

To whom it may concern,
Having lived in the Blue Mountains for over 40 years and having gone bushwalking through its various centres, I know views over valleys and to the plains affected by Warragamba Dam decisions.
Please listen to ALL requests for consideration, not merely for building access , which was so illadvised in the past.

To whom it may concern,
The blue mountains are a special place to so many people, and particularly to our First Nations peoples. Sydney's bushland is precious and I value it highly having grown up in it, spent my childhood in it and feel at home in the bush.
Dams are essential to water security, however are an environmental disaster in many ways. Increasing dam walls poses so many issues, and I believe that raising Warragamba dam wall by 17 metres is a disastrous move and shows how we have not learnt anything about our country over the 100 years.
Dams should not be used for flood mitigation. Irresponsible floodplain development should not be the reason for increasing dam walls. The repercussions of increasing the dam wall will last for 100's of years, and further damage white Australia's relationships with our First Nations people. It shows a huge amount of disrespect and I think it is heartbreaking. Using an engineering firm for the EIS, that has been barred from the world bank for abusing Indigenous rights is beyond careless.
First Nations people should be prioritised in all development. In this instance, the Gundungurra Traditional Owners have been ignored, and have not been given Free, Prior and Informed Consent for the Dam proposal to proceed.
We need to prioritsie protecting our national cultural heritage, bushland and free flowing rivers! Please protect our world heritage areas. This is not for the people of NSW, or Sydney, and will not benefit us long term.

To whom it may concern,
My name is Tessa and I moved to the Blue Mountains in 2017. I am a keen bushwalker and a citizen scientist, contributing to projects on birds, native plants and native bees.
It absolutely breaks my heart to know that the Government is planning on raising the Warragamba Dam wall. I have read independent, factually-based news on this issue and am painfully aware of the terrible consequences our local flora and fauna will experience if this project goes ahead. Apart from affecting critically endangered birds like the Regent’s Honeyeater, it will also severely negatively impact our native bees. Many species of Australia’s bees are in decline following fires and floods. Few people realize this, but native bees contribute not only to the pollination of Australian plants (of which some are the only specialists capable of opening the flowers) but also play a vital role in agricultural pollination. Destroying their habitat will have long-term consequences not only or our native flora but also for our food crops. None of this has been properly taken into consideration by a deeply flawed EIS.
The Blue Mountains is under siege by this government, with plans to have 24 hour flights over the ranges (drowning out the calls of birds and frogs; multiple studies have shown noise pollution leads to the death of species that rely on hearing each other to find a mate); an unwanted Crocodile and Wildlife Park in Wentworth Falls; the widening of the Great Western Highway (which will adversely affect people like myself who live near it, as well as contribute even more noise and air pollution and necessitate the clearing of native trees); plans to dump tonnes of Sydney landfill in an old quarry in Bell; a regional incinerator near Lithgow; along with many other attempts to develop the area into yet another suburb of Western Sydney. It has been relentless!
Please don’t allow this environmentally catastrophic plan to go ahead. Our beautiful Blue has suffered so much already thanks to the floods and worsening climate change; don’t add to the burden. I strongly oppose the raising of this dam wall.

To whom it may concern,
I disagree with the logic that has been offered regarding a need for the Warragamba Dam wall to be raised for flood mitigation.
There are many other geographical factors which contribute to the risk of residential areas flooding, and the number one is building on an identified flood plain.
The areas of concern receive flow from multiple directions, and not just upstream of Warragamba Dam.
This dam was built for water storage and the destruction of indigenous heritage can't be undone. But it's about time colonial descendants stopped ignoring the clearly stated wishes of the first Nations people of Australia and gave way on a few issues instead of always pushing forward, manfacturing situations and expecting that indigenous communities can be again coerced into rolling over and giving up what is so precious to them. Why are you refusing to acknowledge their rights? Why forge ahead with superfluous infrastructure that is designed to cause flooding into a World HERITAGE area. For what? Why is it considered ok by the current federal MP for Penrith to suggest that it will be ok to creat a situation that further threatens flooding of the natural and cultural heritage of the area and allow areas to be destroyed? Because it's out of his sight, and the flora and fauna cannot complain to the media? If any development occurs on a floodplain then it occurs in the full knowledge of floodrisks and reality.
Western Sydney needs accessible green space and nature reserves, family friendly sporting and recreation in open spaces. It also needs to retain agricultural green belts close to the populations that need feeding on the rich alluvial soils which best suit those horticultural industries. Development and planning regulations for the regions downstream of Warragamba Dam ought better reflect the geography of the area.
Please don't ignore the critical and ever increasing habitat loss which is continuing to devastate our unique Au species, we are losing too many, I have seen so much of ig in my lifetime.
Please put engineers and hydrolgists to work on coming up with down stream solutions, and continue the greenspace and large scale lansdscaping associated with the Penrith Lakes project, and halt residential and urban development on the floodplain.
Make better decisions which favour the environment and work with nature not against it
This issue really matters to myself and lots of my family, friends and neighbours.

I strongly oppose the proposal to raise Warragamba Dam due to the project’s unacceptable potential impacts on the environment including to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and threatened species. We have already lost species and Australia is rated the worst for loss of species, This is terrible. Raising the 'damn' wall would lose habitat and this is one of the key indicators for loss of species. Enough said.

But I will go on, the Regent Honeyeater is listed as Critically Endangered at both a state and federal level, with as few as 350 individuals remaining in the wild. 
Modelling by BirdLife Australia suggested that up to 50% of contemporary Regent Honeyeater foraging and breeding habitat was burnt in the 2019/20 bushfires.
thankyou
Pete Dynes and family

To whom it may concern,
I have had many wonderful times in various places in the Blue Mountains and hope to continue doing so. It is a special place, worthy of every protection.
Herewith my submission opposing the Warragamba Dam Raising Project for the following reasons.
There are many alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities. A combined approach of multiple options has been recommended as the most cost-effective means of flood risk mitigation.
• Alternative options were not comprehensively assessed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Any assessment of alternatives does not take into account the economic benefits that would offset the initial cost of implementation.
• On average, 45% of floodwaters are derived from areas outside of the upstream Warragamba Dam catchment. This means that no matter how high the dam wall is constructed, it will not be able to prevent flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley downstream.
In 2000, the Blue Mountains World Heritage area was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in recognition of its Outstanding Universal Value for the whole of mankind.
Raising the Warragamba dam wall and consequent damage to natural and cultural values would be a clear breach of these undertakings and Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention.
An estimated 65 kilometres of wilderness rivers, and 5,700 hectares of National Parks, 1,300 hectares of which is within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, would be inundated by the Dam project. This includes:
• The Kowmung River - declared a ‘Wild River’, protected for its pristine condition under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974;
• Unique eucalyptus species diversity, such as the Camden White Gum, recognised as having Outstanding Universal Value under the area’s World Heritage listing;
• A number of Threatened Ecological Communities, notably Grassy Box Woodland;
• Habitat for endangered and critically endangered species including the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater and Sydney’s last Emu population.
There have been systematic failures in the EIS:
• The engineering firm, SMEC Engineering, that undertook the environmental and cultural assessments for the project have an established history abusing Indigenous rights, recently being barred from the World Bank.
• Severe fires during the summer of 2019/2020 devastated 81% of Blue Mountains Heritage Area. No post-bushfire field surveys have been undertaken.
• Only 27% of the impact area was assessed for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage.
• Threatened species' surveys are substantially less than guideline requirements.Where field surveys were not adequately completed, expert reports were not obtained.
• No modelling of the stated flood and economic benefits of the dam wall raising are outlined in the EIS.
• The integrity of the environmental assessment is fundamentally flawed, and cannot be accepted as a basis for further decision-making by the Minister for Planning.
Gundungurra Traditional Owners have not been given Free, Prior and Informed Consent for the Dam proposal to proceed:
• Over 1,541 identified cultural heritage sites would be inundated by the Dam proposal.
• The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report has been severely and repeatedly criticised by both the Australian Department of Environment and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for not appropriately assessing cultural heritage in meaningful consultation with Gundungurra community members.

To whom it may concern,
I oppose the raising of the dam wall as it will not mitigate the flooding on the plains whilst causing irreparable damage to those areas behind the dam wall which will flood as a consequence. The flooding that occurred earlier this year would not have been ameliorated by a higher dam wall as the flood waters came from other overflowing tributaries, overwhelmed stormwater drainage systems, too much concrete, asphalt, and other hard surfaces which do not allow absorption of rainwater into soil, and the like. Overdevelopment is the problem. Stop building on flood plains is the solution.

To whom it may concern,
The Blue Mountains World Heritage area is not just a world class National Park, in 2000 it was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in recognition of its Outstanding Universal Value for the whole of mankind. Raising the Warragamba dam wall and consequent damage to natural and cultural values would be a clear breach of these undertakings and Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention.
An estimated 65 kilometres of wilderness rivers, and 5,700 hectares of National Parks, 1,300 hectares of which is within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, would be inundated by the Dam project. This includes:
• The Kowmung River - declared a ‘Wild River’, protected for its pristine condition under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974;
• Unique eucalyptus species diversity recognised as having Outstanding Universal Value under the area’s World Heritage listing such as the Camden White Gum;
• A number of Threatened Ecological Communities, notably Grassy Box Woodland;
• Habitat for endangered and critically endangered species including the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater and Sydney’s last Emu population.
My sister lived in the Blue Mountains and it was always a pleasure to show our visitors the many wonderful wild places along the valleys which we visited. I can not imagine not being able to visit these places again and enjoy nature at its finest and the beautiful scenery. People need nature and the opportunity to visit natural places for their mental health. Cultural places are important for the local Traditioal owners to hold ceremonies and connect with their heritage. The raising of the dam wall is not the only solution to water insecurities for the Sydney areas. Raising Warragamba wall should be the last solution. You need to explore other solutions first before destroying the natural environment. Once threatened Ecological communities and endangered species have disappeared from the landscape, they will be gone forever. Australia has the highest extinction rate of all the "developed" countries. Isn't it about time this was reversed? Can we be the world leader in halting extinction crisis? Can we do better?
The answer is "yes". If our government commits to ensuring that extinction does not become the normal way of doing business.

Investing more money into Warragamba Dam just prolongs the inevitable problems that come with it. There are better solutions that can be implemented in the city, such as underground water tanks and permeable pavements.

To whom it may concern,
I oppose raising the dam wall due to the environmental havoc it will reek, submerging areas of the natural environment, destroying sacred sites and loss of habitat and wildlife.

To whom it may concern,
I write to object to the raising of the dam wall at warragamba. The Kowmung was declared a wild river in 1974 and I have hiked and camped along this river for those last 50 years and it is the only place one can truly feel wild!

The area contains threatened species and threatened ecological communities, noting Sydney's last Emu population and the rare and beautiful Camden white gums.
Our indigenous sites through this region are still being discovered and the Australian government needs to step up in the protection of the 1500 sites already recorded.
Raising the dam wall will not stop the flood waters on the plains downstream and the housing developers need to look elsewhere. Our environment needs to be valued and World Heritage Areas kept pristine.

To whom it may concern,
I do not agree with the raising of the dam wall. If it is done it will not only cause drown world heritage cultural sites, but if it o e day does break (and things such as this do happen) then the amount of lives lost will be tremendous.

To whom it may concern,
I formally submit my opposition to the Warragamba Dam Raising Proposal.
This project would have a significant impact on the World Heritage Area as well as threatened ecological communities including grassy woodlands and 80 known threatened species in the region who are already under threat from climate change.
The environmental impact statement is woefully inadequate and has not taken into account flooding damage in the biodiversity offsets report or the impacts of the significant 2019-2020 bushfires. The proposal has also not taken into account the full cultural heritage expanse in the area.
Did you know that, on average, 45% of floodwaters are derived from areas outside of the upstream Warragamba Dam catchment. This means that no matter how high the dam wall is constructed, it will not be able to prevent flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley downstream.
I stand with the National Trust (NSW), the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the Gundungurra people to ask the New South Wales government to find an alternative option to protect communities from flood waters without further damaging protected natural forests.

To whom it may concern,
I write this submission opposing the raising of the Warragamba Dam Wall. I frequently use the Blue Mountains National Park for bushwalking and studying the biological diversity of the area and to enjoy the cultural heritage of the area. I have communicated with Dr Jo Rey ,Dept of Indigenous Studies Macquarie University and she agrees with me that raising the Warragamba Dam wall would be so damaging and detrimental to country .

The Blue Mountains World Heritage area includes the Blue Mountains National Park.Raising the Dam wall will destroy the natural and cultural values of this area forever. 65km of wilderness rivers and 5700ha of National Park with 1300ha within the Blue Mountains World Heritage area will be destroyed.Grassy Box Woodland and habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater will be destroyed.
Over 1541 identified cultural heritage sites would be destroyed by the Dam proposal.The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment has had no meaningful consultation with Gundungurra community members .
45% of floodwaters have their origin outside of the Warragamba Catchment.Flooding of the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley will not be prevented by raising the Warragamba Dam wall. Alternative options to raising the Dam wall were not sufficiently addressed in the EIS.
Recycling water for drinking is widely practised overseas . The UK have been doing this for many years. There are many solutions that are available to mitigate flood risk and also to conserve water .I urge the NSW Government to abandon the raising of the Warragamba Dam Wall and seek sensible alternative and more cost effective solutions.

To whom it may concern,
I oppose the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall. It will have deleterious effects on native wildlife (including already threatened species). I also oppose it because of what it will do to indigenous cultural heritage sites and damage to the land. So much of the Sydney region has been taken from aboriginal people- we shouldn't disturb any more.
The assessment process had been grossly inadequate and designed to favour further development of the Sydney Basin.
All other alternatives to raising the Dam wall need to be investigated and the best of these taken up.

Hello,
I write in opposition to the raising of the wall of Warragamba Dam. I oppose the raising of the dam for four reasons, cost and utility, environmental impact and cultural impact.
The cost of the dam far outweighs any possible benefit. The aim of reducing flooding on the western plains of Sydney can be achieved more cheaply and more securely by lowering the full storage level. Increased development on the flood plain (a consequence of raising the dam wall) will also increase flooding. It would be better to plan development in areas that are not known natural disaster areas. The use of the dam can be retained as primarily drinking water supply with some flood mitigation possibilities.
The environmental impact of raising the dam wall is unconscionable. The loss of such large areas of bushland will have negative consequences at both micro and macro levels. On a micro level, it is likely that some species, such as the regent honeyeater will be entirely wiped out. On a macro level, forests help regulate global weather systems. If the motivating idea behind raising the dam wall is mitigating flooding events, then slowing the rate of climate change must also be foremost. Preserving established forests is a keystone in reducing climate impacts.
Most importantly, raising the dam wall will have a devastating effect on the Gungungurra people. As the dam is on unceded Gungungurra land, as the dam has already displaced their communities and destroyed priceless cultural heritage; it is the very least the government owes them to consider the consequences of raising the wall on this community. The Gungungurra people, and other indigenous groups from the Sydney basin region, lived sustainably on country for many thousands of years. Their input on how to live here is invaluable. Please let us not enact another Juukan Gorge.
It is possible to reduce the flood risk, retain the forest, and respect the Gungungurra people without raising the dam; and indeed to deliver on these outcomes at a much lower cost. Raising the dam clearly does not represent the best option. Please do not go ahead with this project.
Kind regards
Stephanie Swanson

To whom it may concern,
Yet again, a state government is taking short term profit WITH NO LONG TERM BENEFIT TO SOCIETY. This smacks of property developers with the greedy (and dare I say it) corrupt politicians in their pockets. Could you please start thinking of future generations? Just like I have to at work when looking after your children in hospital. Your greed is the reason we have hardly any olg growth regions left, so stop being an uneducated flat-earther and leave the wilderness alone please.

To whom it may concern,
I am writing to state my utter dismay and disbelief that our NSW government can be even contemplating this destructive project.
The absolute incompetence of the environmental impact analysis can only be assumed to be wilful. Indeed the firm conducting the analysis on your behalf has been barred from this type of work by the World Bank. Moreover the extent of cultural and species surveys has been significantly less than accepted standards.
No amount of (flawed) offset planning can compensate for the destruction that this project will wreak on vital environmental and indigenous values and ways of life, nor its negative effects on the "lungs" of the Sydney Basin, nor its benefits as a recreation wilderness for the people of the Sydney Basin.
There is a long term history of environmental destruction and removal of wilderness and open space in the Sydney basin, all perpetrated in the name of "progress", but the sheer scale of the destruction to be wrought by this project is beyond the pale.
I urge the government to reconsider and seek other solutions to the issues purportedly addressed by this proposal.

To whom it may concern,
We regularly enjoy the nature and trails in our local area as well as the Blue Mountains.
The raising of the dam may negatively impact these in the long term, destroying one of the best parts of living in this part of the world.
I would like to see other options engaged that are less detrimental. (Oppose the raising of the dam)

To whom it may concern,
All though i do not live in the area i go bushwalking in the area that is going to be inundated by the raising of the dam wall. I am concerned for the effect on Aboriginal and World Heritage Protected lands. I am also concerned about the effects of down steam flooding on a worse scale then seen in the most recent floods.
I am therefore strongly opposing the proposal to raise the Warragamba dam wall