Warragamba Dam Raising

1. To whom it may concern,
I totally oppose the raising of the dam wall. I do not want to lose the beautiful Blue Mountains environment forever.
Please find alternative strategies to meet the need for more housing.

We Neil & Lynette Brighton SUPPORT the raising of Warragamba Dam. (1) To hold more water for Sydney residents, therefore we believe it would be an absolute asset Warragamba Dam holding more water than rebuilding Expensive Desalination Plants.
(2) To Stop the Flooding of Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley-Windsor-Richmond-Riverstone Area's the Benefit would be to Health & Safety of Residents and their Valuable Homes & Properties and the devastating loss of properties and Insurance costs rising due to past Floods would be hughly minimised.
Warragamba Dam was built 60 years ago when Sydney's population was approx 2.135 Million people Now Sydney is approx 6 Million people or more and we still have had no new Dam's built to cover our valuable water resources needs for this rapid growth area. It's a Must Do that Warragamba Dam's Wall is Raised.

To whom it may concern,
I am opposed to the raising of Warragamba dam wall.
There is too much natural heritage to be lost plus there will still be flooding.
Please look at alternatives to this project.

To whom it may concern,
Although I do not live in this area and will not be affected by floodplan development I have walked in the Blue Mountains trails often and do not want to see any damage brought to this area. But what offends me personally is the total disregard for Indigenous culture and the destruction of their history and sacred sites.
I have been advised that the impact assessment was condemned by National Parks and Wildlife Service; Heritage NSW and the Commonwealth Environment Department.
Seems to me you haven't thought this through, although on reflection, this situation is fairly typical of Australian attitudes not only the government but ignorant whites. I live on Aboriginal land and I am ashamed to be an Australian. We are so totally ignorant and do not value the land that is in front of us. Pearls to swine.
I cannot continue.
Disgusted.

To whom it may concern,
I wish to register my opposition to raising the Warragamba Dam wall. I live in the Blue Mountains and have been walking in the region for over 30 years. For a number of years I worked in western Sydney - specifically on the restoration and protection of bushland and I was actively involved in the Kowmung Committee over 25 years ago when the wall was last proposed to be raised and we brokered an alternate solution.
I am extremely concerned that the current proposal again risks irreparable damage to upstream environmental and cultural values and that raising the dam does not provide best or most cost-effective downstream benefits for the expenditure proposed.
My concerns with the EIS documentation provided include:
• the consistent dissatisfaction expressed by Aboriginal Elders that their issues with the survey area and methodology have not been addressed.
• the fact that no surveys have been undertaken after the bushfires to assess current condition of the area and status of threatened species.
• the lack of a full explanation of the assumed flooding and economic benefits and the fact that alternative options were not comprehensively assessed in the EIS.
No matter how high the dam wall is constructed, it will not be able to prevent flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley downstream due to the very significant contribution of flows from outside the Warragamba dam catchment to floodwater. On average, 45% of floodwaters are derived from areas outside of the upstream Warragamba Dam catchment.
There are alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities that should be further explored prior to a decision being taken. I note that recently the Insurance Council of Australia has stated that the public money spent raising the wall would be better used buying back flood-prone land. Western Sydney has developed rapidly in the last 25-years and this is projected to continue. It is incumbent on the NSW government to invest wisely in infrastructure to ensure people have a safe and healthy environment to live in. Retaining and returning areas of high flood risk to native vegetation is likely to be an essential part of this investment and can provide additional benefits to help manage heat island impacts and provide much needed recreational spaces.
Raising the dam risks entrenching inappropriate development without adequately addressing the flood risk - while at the same time irrevocably damaging our natural and cultural heritage in an area already globally recognised for its special value.

To whom it may concern,
Experts I trust have reported that raising the height of the wall of the Warragamba Dam will be damaging to the environment. It will not stop flooding in the affected areas below the dam and it will flood precious lands above. I am very concerned that we are still using dams, a technology of primitive times brought up to date by 19th and 20th C techniques, to shape water-use and distort the landscape. The fact that the government is considering changing the profile of the Warragamba Dam shows that the dam was poorly planned, since it is not 'fit for purpose', and that whatever level of technology is used to mitigate the current problem will only create further problems. Is the government to keep repeating the mistakes of earlier engineers? In fact, we should be removing dams from our environment, not imposing further damming that might lead to disasters, be they environmental or human.

To whom it may concern,
Please do not raise Warragamba Dam wall. Flood mitigation dams do not work! It gives the illusion of safety, and lots of houses are then developed in flood-prone areas. However, IT DOES NOT PROTECT these properties in the extreme floods, which are the ones causing the most damage and loss of life. Added to the fact that Warragamba Dam is Sydney's main water storage, and the temptation is to keep it as full as possible. This is understandable, as Sydney running out of water would be far worse than protecting properties from the occassional flood. You may very well specify that this extra storage cannot be filled, but water supply will trump flood mitigation every time (as happened in the Brisbane flood). This means the flood mitigation aspect of the dam will be even less effective, making the cast/benefit even poorer. The only way to effectively protect properties from flooding is to NOT BUILD ON FLOODPLAINS. All this is additional to upstream flooding and irreversible damage of natural and cultural heritage. Please do not raise Warragamba Dam wall.

To whom it may concern,
Raising the Warragamba Dam wall will flood pristine wild rivers and important bushwalking areas west of Sydney. This will have a devestating impact on Blue Mountains wilderness areas, rivers, and traditional Indigenous heritage sites.
Please do not allow this to happen.

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.

Keep Aboriginal sites sacred to us.

To whom it may concern,
I cannot believe this is for any other person than money making by settling MORE HOUSES onto a flood plain. You see it happen in other countries but then it is happening here. Driven by developers $$$ here in Camden we have seen an overspill of houses so close together there is not room for a fence between them The fencers would be unable so set up their materials. Importing people and relying on building houses to fund a country is deadly. Those in the future will find that out. Destroying some of the most amazing country by flooding is short term madness.
Hae you herd the term WAKE UP AUSTRALIA!!! before its too late! Look at the USA how it has destroyed so many beautiful places with overkill superstructure.

Please do not raise the Warragamba Dam wall. I am very concerned about the loss of wild rivers, unique aboriginal decorated caves and World Heritage cultural sites .

To whom it may concern,
The practice of building on floodplains has been proven wrong on so many "extreme" events when houses have been flooded and people's lives put in danger. The "extreme" events are the normal flood cycles of nature that, if allowed to flow through the natural floodplain do nothing more than benefit future generations as the fertility of the flood plain is improved for food production. The Aswan dam in Egypt has destroyed so many cultural sites up stream and now is proving to be the killer of food production down stream.
Constant interferring with flood plains are to our detriment and even now we see illegal theft of water from flood plain harvesting. A practice that is only benefiting a few while depriving nature and others of their water entitlement. Raising the height of Warragamba dam is a short term solution to a developer's dream. It does not acknowledge the issues that will occur for generations.

To whom it may concern,
My family and I have enjoyed the world heritage and national park areas in the blue mountains for many many years. Bushwalking, rock climbing, camping, birdwatching, siteseeing, holidays, even dining and shopping in the towns are some of our best memories (and surely are valuable attractions for the nsw economy).
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.

Severe fires during the summer of 2019/20 devastated 81% of Blue Mountains Heritage Area.
Flooding this enormous, precious and vulnerable area is reckless, and irreversible. Please do not do this.

To whom it may concern,
I am a concerned resident of the blue mountains. I have lived here for over 13 years and move to this area for the beautiful unique natural areas that surround us. I oppose the raising of the Warragamba dam wall and believe this project is based on an inadequate and flawed environmental impact study (EIS).
I feel the government hasn’t adequately addressed the impacts on our wild rivers, such as the Kowmung which will be flooded. Nor the impacts on our endangered animals and plant communities. Such as the Regent Honey Eater which is critically endangered and whose key breeding sites will be destroyed. Also, one of Sydney’s last remaining Koala populations in the lower Nattai will be flooded. This region and its flora and fauna have already been severely impacted by the 2019 bushfires, the extent of which is not yet fully understood. Flooding this area will put added stress on already suffering eco systems.
Raising the dam wall is incompatible with our world heritage listing and caused United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to speak out against this proposal. Our world heritage status draws many tourists to this area and the potential loss of this status will have a devastating impact on our tourist dependent local economy.
After the desecration that occurred at Juukan Gorge, we are seeing yet again a complete disregard for Gundungarra people who stand to lose important cultural sites and history if the dam wall is raised. The Gundungarra were not properly consulted, due to inaccessible meetings held many hours from their representatives’ homes, and unrealistic short time frames to respond. Sydney Water displayed a lack of cultural competence and understanding during the very brief consultation process and Gundungurra people now need to be fully and respectfully consulted as part of a meaningful impact assessment.
It is inexcusable that none of these issues have been properly assessed in the current flawed EIS. The EIS needs to be started anew making a genuine effort to take into consideration the impacts on the Blue Mountains community, our unique flora and fauna, our World Heritage status, and the irreversible destruction of First Nations Culture and history. If this was done, I believe the raising of the dam wall could not gain approval. For this reason I remain opposed to raising the Warragamba Dam wall.

Please don't allow these pristine waters to be destroyed by corporate greed. Ancient artworks MUST be preserved not destroyed. Once done , this action cannot be reversed. Please stop before it's too late.

To whom it may concern,
My name is Paula Knight. I am opposed to raising the Warragamba Dam wall as it will flood pristine bushland, destroy native birds and animals homes and destroy indigenious caves and significant sites. I have family who live in the Blue Mountains annd this is very concerning for us all. Raising the dam wall will not protect the Hawkes-Napean Valley as flooding there comes from other water sources. It would be extremely irisponsible of the Gov't to build homes on this floodplain. We all need to take better care of our country.

Please, please DO NOT raise the Dam, pleeease.

To whom it may concern,
I can't believe the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall is still under consideration!
• SMEC Engineering has been discredited
• the Insurance Council of Australia has withdrawn support
• as a World Heritage site, the UN has said it did not support it and has asked the NSW government to submit the Impact study asking the government to “thoroughly” assesses how raising the wall would "impact on the Outstanding Universal Values of the property and its other values, including Aboriginal cultural heritage”, exacerbate bushfire impacts and affect the longer-term recovery of “key species and habitats” burnt during the 2019-20 season
• no modelling of the flood and economic benefits - it won't stop houses built in the flood plains flooding 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.
• and insufficient acountability for threatened species and impact on the site's Aboriginal Heritage
• no surveys post 2019/20 bushfires
• Profoundly insufficient consultation with the Gundugurra Traditional Custodians
• The cross-party interim report, from the NSW parliamnetary inquiry calls on the government to “more fully consider” alternatives to the project including the acquisition of properties on the lower flood plain and lowering the full supply level of the current dam

The NSW government needs to focus on more sustainable and low impact ways to mitigate flooding - restoring flood plains and re-locating housing that should never have been built in vulnerable areas. Such efforts would have long-term benefits both for residents and local environment.
Up until now, this has been all about the Liberal NSW government going about a profit-driven buisness as usual model. In times of severe climate disruption and serious upset due to the Covid pandemic, this is not the way to go! Be creative and innovative - do it right!

To whom it may concern,
I have come to the understanding that raising the Warragamba Dam wall needs to take into account further details that were not accounted for during the environmental and cultural assessments for the project.
It is highly concerning that that the threatened species surveys were less than required by the guidelines. Moreover, as the Balck Summer bushfires destroyed a significant amount of the Blue Mountains Heritage Area, surveys need to be taken post the bushfires in order to truly reflect the areas of concern.
Please consider the alternatives for raising the dam wall, and find a solution that will benefit all the communities downstream the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley.