Warragamba Dam Raising

To whom it may concern,
More than ever, we need to value and respect what is left of our wilderness areas, protect them from harm and leave them intact for future generations. As a keen outdoor enthusiast, I am opposed to the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam wall and am extremely concerned about the detrimental effect such a proposal will have on the natural environment.
It is my understanding that the EIS has failed to adequately take into consideration the severe fires that have taken their toll on 81% of the Blue Mountains Heritage Area, failed to fully reveal the proposal's impacts on indigenous cultural heritage, and failed to fully examine the proposal's risks to threatened species. Inundation would threaten over one and a half thousand identified cultural heritage sites!
Raising the dam wall and inundating such an important wilderness area will do irreversible damage to environmental and cultural assets that are priceless and belong to our children and our childrens' children. Please do not underestimate the importance of protecting our natural environment from the harms of over-development.

To whom it may concern,
I object strongly to the proposal to raise the dam wall. Please consider the environment, indigenous cultural heritage, the birds and animals that will be flooded out. There must be a better way that causing this wholesale destruction.
thank you for allowing g submissions.

To whom it may concern,

Regarding SSI-8441
I am a local Blue Mountains resident and a keen outdoors person exploring and enjoying the region. I am also a member of environmental groups such as Swampcare.
If the dam wall is raised, 4,700 hectares of World Heritage listed national parks and 1,800 hectares of declared Wilderness Areas will be forever scarred from sedimentation, erosion and invasion of exotic plants.
Raising Warragamba Dam will inundate 65 kilometres of Blue Mountain's wild rivers.
Bushwalkers are drawn to the pristine Kowmung River - a wild river that has inspired generations of walkers.
Flowing through the heart of the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness, the Kowmung is the most loved wild river in the Blue Mountains. It rises on the Great Dividing Range and meets the Coxs River just before it enters Lake Burragorang.
I oppose the raising of the dam wall under any circumstances when there are other alternatives such as not increasing the urban spread in Western Sydney by developing the urban spread elsewhere not dependant on raising the dam wall and destroying our natural and cultural heritage.

To whom it may concern,
I oppose the raising of the Warragamba Dam. The evidence or lack of shows a complete disregard for the environment.
Your choice of using SMEC Engineering is dubious. Do you know they have an established history abusing Indigenous rights, recently being barred from the world bank?
Why hasn't there been been a Bush fire field survey taken?
Surely with the recent bushfires this would have crossed your minds?
Are you aware that raising the Dam wall by 17 meters will not stop 45% of the of the flooding of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, which is you're agrgument to build.
it's flawed, false and frankly an undertaking obviously in the pockets of developers.
please think about the good of the people and planet before you line your purses.
I oppose your proposal to build on this unique area.

To whom it may concern,
I'm devastated to think that the NSW government is even considering to raise the Wall of the Warrgamba Dam. The consequences of doing such a demonstrable act would impact so many of our endangered wildlife, especially after the FIRES. First Nations People cultural history would be lost forever. Hasn't there been enough of that destroyed already. My childhood memories flooded forever.
Surley there are better options available.
Please find an alternative to this act of thoughtless progress.

To whom it may concern,
I am strongly opposed to the misguided decision to raise Warragamba Dam. I fail to see how building more homes on a floodplain is in any way sensible. Floodplain land is very useful for crop growing and in that use can cope with floods. Homes do not cope with floods!
Raising the dam wall would not guarantee better protection from overflow as that would require legislated/properly managed water level control. The scenario leading to potential flooding would involve a period of increased rainfall and I have absolutely no faith in Sydney Water resisting the urge to "save a bit more water" and thus push the dam to having to release extra water when the rain continues, putting the flood plain homes again in jeopardy. I would not support any State support towards insurance assistance for homeowners who live on the floodplain but I expect that increased insurance claims will be a consequence of placing more homes on the floodplain.
Please abandon this ill-founded push to push more homeowners into risk and to irreversibly destroy more of Australa's indigenous heritage and National Park resource.

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 speciesdiversity 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.

To whom it may concern,
As an avid bushwalker, and as someone who cares deeply for the environment, I beg you to NOT raise the dam. Our land and wildlife are suffering enough. Find somewhere else to build houses.

To whom it may concern,
I understand that the NSW Governmrnt plans to raise the height of the Warragamba Dam wall by 17 metres, allowing developers to build houses in the flood plain below. This flooding will affect wild rivers, bushwalking areas used by my friends and myself, and destroy culturally significant cave art and burial sites in the Burragorang Valley.
These plans represent a significant threat to an important World Heritage area. I object in the strongest terms.

To whom it may concern,
The EIS for the Warragamba Dam wall raising project is woefully flawed and biased.
Surveys for threatened species in the impacted areas are substantially lacking, not coming close to the guideline requirements.
The EIS does not incorporate any information in the wake of the devastating bush fires of 2019-2020. To assume that nothing has changed after an event of that magnitude is sheer folly.
The firm that conducted the environmental and cultural assessments is under sanctions from the World Bank for thier history of abuse of Indigenous rights. The Gundungurra Traditional Owners have not given true consent to this project, which will impact at least 1541 indentified cultural heritage sites.
To use this EIS as the basis for proceeding with the project makes a mockery of the entire environmental assessment process. Please consider alternatives that do not cause flooding of important environmental and cultural areas and that do not risk the World Heritage listing of the Blue Mountains National Park.

To whom it may concern,
I live and work in the Blue Mountains, and have a great deal of concern for the environmental and cultural impact the raising of the dam wall will have on the Blue Mountains National Park and World Heritage Area. I am strongly oppoed to the proposal. The environmental impact statement is inadequate, especially in light of the 2019/20 bushfires and the damaged they caused to this area. The traditional owners have not given consent to this proposal. Crucially, this proposal seems to prioritise property developers in Western Sydney by sacrificing a beautiful, unique and pristine part of our landscape, it could never be worth it to cause this much damage for the sake of building more houses and it can never be justifiable to destroy something this special and fragile for the sake of profit.

To whom it may concern,
I am strongly against the raising of Warragamba Dam's walls. As someone with a background in Environmental Science, I am horrified by the lack of accurate and meaningful surveys and reporting on the Aboriginal, environmental and cultural heritage of the area that would be affected by the proposed plan. The Blue Mountains are a beautiful area for bushwalking, for both locals and visitors to the area. They are also ecologically and culturally rich, and it is extremely important that we protect these areas, particularly as we face the consequences of climate change. With over 1541 cultural sites, it's important to preserve and protect this area, working with the Gundungurra Traditional Owners. Further, raising the dam wall would also be in clear violation of Australia's obligations under the World Heritage Convention. The government should be working to protect our bushland, not destroy it for profit.

To whom it may concern,
Allowing unbridled urban sprawl across our most productive agricultural flood plains is foolish. This land is ideal for food production as our inland becomes hotter and drier under the influence of climate change.
Urban consolidation simplifies provision of roads, services and transport to residential areas. Allowing the population to live closer to work decreases commuting time and energy expended in transport.
Making more use of our desalination plant and more recycling of the water already sequestered by our current dams would make more sense than spending billions on drowning our dwindling natural heritage.
With a changing climate our rainfall may become more eratic and we will be forced to utilise desalination like Perth. A bigger dam is useless unless there is rain and runoff to fill it.

To whom it may concern,
Please reconsider this atrocious waste of taxpayers money that will destroy more of our nation's wilderness & cultural heritage seemingly only for the benefit of property developers. If you can't remember the outrage that was aimed at the miners that destroyed cultural sites in the Kimberly last year, I suggest you review it before you go ahead with this political suicide.
our nation deserves better from our leadership than what we currently have nationwide.
thanks

To whom it may concern,
I have always loved the tracks and open spaces of the Blue Mountains, we are so fortunate to have this protected space close to Sydney for everyone to enjoy.

I have friends who live just at the start of the Blue Mountains at Kurrajong Heights they have seen first- hand the rapid almost rampant development in the western Sydney area just at the base of the mountains.
To raise the dam wall just to "protect" future development on a flood plain is in my opinion....madness.

I must say NO to raising the dam wall.

In Lismore in the far north coast, they allowed development on a flood plain, well it did not survive a flood, the council had to rethink building on a flood plain...not a good idea.
So, why are you doing this to allow more building on a flood plain, can you hold back the water if and when there is a really a big flood, the dam gets too full and has to be released??

The cultural sites that this increased dam level would drown as well as the World Heritage national park, a UNESCO listed and recognised, must be protected.

Is all this going to be ignored as well, because it is too late once it is under water it is gone for good!

To whom it may concern,
The proposal to raise the dam represents an abuse of power. The destruction of cultural sites and wildlife areas has no justification whatsoever.

To whom it may concern,
I am in opposition to the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam project. It is destructive and will have a detrimental effect on flaura, fauna, and heritage in the area.
It has not been researched sufficiently and will have a lasting effect on current and future generations. It is unacceptable and should be reconsidered or scrapped completely. Please do not destroy this heritage site by going ahead with this project.

To whom it may concern,
It has recently come to my attention that the NSW Government plans to raise the wall of the Warragamba Dam by 17 metres so developers can build houses on low lying floodplains.
There are many problems with this and it is clear they have not been properly addressed. This is extremely disappointing of the Government and could be devastating for the families who will live in this area as 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.
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.
The initial dract of this impact assessment was heavily comdemned by several of the governments own agencies. National Parks and Wildlife said it failed to address the way raising the dam wall will impact on species and ecological communities affected by the last year's bushfires.
These are only a few key facts about the devastating impacts this raising of the dam wall would have.
This decision from the NSW Government must be reconsidered for the sake of future families living in that area, and for the environment that is going to be destroyed.

To whom it may concern,
As per the above mentioned dam project, certain government agencies have clearly outlined their criticisims and request for further reviews. I request that the NSW state government must necessarily attend to these important criticisms, and complete further detail sutdies to assit with the revision of the current EIS in circulation

I oppose this project due to the impact on the natural environment and on locations of importance to the Gundungurra people that will occur in the 6000 hectares which will be inundated periodically if the project proceeds. In addition, the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is at risk of losing its listing due to the likely extent of damage to its significant natural values. If the project proceeds, the NSW government will be turning its back on the preservation of the natural environment which was its aim in establishing the Blue Mountains National Park, turning its back on the rights of local Aboriginal custodians of the area to maintain their connection with place of spiritual significance and risking the loss of reputation which will ensue if the World Heritage listing of area is lost. Furthermore, allowing more development to occur on the floodplain will ultimately place an even greater number of home owners at risk of flood damage when the dam once again reaches capacity.