Warragamba Dam Raising

To whom it may concern,
I am a local resident of the Wollondilly Shire who has undertaken tertiary education in environmental management and ecology. I go bushwalking in the Blue Mountains and Nattai National Park and value the area for its environmental and recreational values.
I am appalled by the EIS which has failed to consider the post-bush fire state of the environment that will be impacted, and has failed to complete adequate threatened species surveys. This is important since the EIS states there are 76 threatened flora species and 16 threatened fauna species that will be impacted by the development. The increased extent and duration of upstream inundation will impact large areas of native vegetaiton, including parts of the Blue Mountains Heritage Area. It is vital that the health and functioning of these ecosystems is protected. Furthermore, only 27% of the impact area was assesed for Aboringinal Cultural Heritage. There are over 1541 identified cultural heritage sites that would be inundated by the dam raising.
Thus, due to significant environmental and cultural concern, I strongly oppose the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam.

To whom it may concern,
This project is an insane violation of the pristine national park environment of the Blue Mountains and I want to make a submission because as a resident and steward of this land it seems unthinkable to compromise the rare species that will be eradicated for the sake of development.
It has been proven that this dam will not even be effective at reducing flooding down river due to other low lying rivers where the water will undoubtedly move to once this dam is built so this feels like a futile operation.
Please find another way

Thank you for your reports on the rising of the Warragamba Dam wall project. We believe that the whole study area is of high significance to us Aboriginal people, for tens of thousands of years our people have worked, managed and occupied the land that we stand on today. We have a spiritual connection to place, land, water ways and the sky. Our creation stories that shaped this land and flow through us till this day and continue to be passed down from generation to generation are written within the land scape around us. Our old people were the first agriculturist, scientist, astronomers, artist, bakers etc. we once lived a life where we survived of mother earth, as she provides us with all the resources we need to survive, and we would in return care for her and mange her the ways we acquired knowledge over tens of thousands of years of practices such as fire knowledge to rejuvenate mother earth.
The study area is highly significant to us as there are hundreds of sites that will be destroyed if this project goes ahead, such as rock art, grinding grooves, stone tools, scared trees, rock shelters, sacred sites, and most importantly our burials etc. These sites are highly important to us just like the town hall in Parramatta is important, a two-hundred-year-old building that will not be destroyed, yet our tens of thousands year old sites are under treat to be destroyed if this project goes ahead. This is an example of how wrong this project is, we understand that the dam needs to be raised but we ask for there to be adequate testing and surveying of the whole study are not just a sample. We need to act accordingly to capture what is still out there today and recorded as much as possible if not all for the benefit of our future generation’s knowledge of the area.
There are tangible, intangible, and aesthetic aspects that must be considered with in the study area. There are places that have significant to us for instance the jumping lady which was not a dreaming story but happen and it is areas like this that have great importance to our cultural heritage of the area. There are dreaming stories about the creation of the land that are of great significance to us and by visiting these sites we can once again be connected to the place and have a spiritual awaking or connection to these places. It is important that we as the Aboriginal community have access to these areas to learn and practice our traditional ways of knowledge and rejuvenate areas that have been neglected since colonisation and due to the disposition of our land. To be able to walk the land of our old people is a way to reconnect, they guide us and teach us along the way. The inundation of the dam will have catastrophic impacts on the study area and will affect many ecosystems the flora and fauna will be majorly affected. Endangered spices plant and animals will be at risk, the homes of animals will be destroyed having dangerous effects on the ecosystem.
We would like to agree to your recommendations but, we do not agree to the project unless all recommendations are meet. We understand that the inundation of the dam is need along with the raising of the dam but, in saying that there are other ways to protect residents downstream from flooding such as flood mitigation and flood evacuation plans. We believe that the project should be fully assessed when it comes to cultural heritage within the study area. There needs to be more done in the form of testing, and surveying of the whole study area documenting as much as possible before the dam in inundated, as a last chance to capture our rich cultural heritage before it is lost. Thank you for your reports, we look forward to further consultation on this project, we look forward to working along side you in the near future.

To whom it may concern,
The Blue Mountains National Parks need to be preserved in their current state for posterity.
I strongly disagree with raising of Warragamba dam wall due to:
- the loss of 1500 indigenous cultural sites
- the loss of critical habitat for endangered species such as the Regent honeyeater, emus, koalas and the platypus.

Just like the Great Barrier Reef, this wilderness area has been entrusted to our generation and we must not fail future generations by agreeing to its destruction.

To whom it may concern,
The Blue Mountains National Parks need to be preserved in their current state for posterity.
I strongly disagree with raising of Warragamba dam wall due to:
- the loss of 1500 indigenous cultural sites
- the loss of critical habitat for endangered species such as the Regent honeyeater, emus, koalas and the platypus.

Just like the Great Barrier Reef, this wilderness area has been entrusted to our generation and we must not fail future generations by agreeing to its destruction.

To the Warragamba Dam Assessment team,

I strongly support the project to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

I have lived and or worked in the Hawksbury region for over 20 years and during this time have witnessed the utter destruction the floods have on the people, community and business alike during these times. I currently reside in Rouse Hill and commute daily to South Windsor for work and during the floods this year the business I work for had to close its doors as the routes to the office at times were unpredictable and caused a great amount of confusion. The business I work for employs in excess of 100 staff and to stop work for this amount of people and disrupt the flow of work for our customers is timely and has significant financial impact to all involved.

The Windsor area has such a strong history both with indigenous heritage and colonial settlement and to see the devastation these floods create is truly upsetting. To know that there is a solution I am optimistic that we can minimise the effects these floods have on the Hawksbury region.

So once again I am in total support and look forward to change for the better in the not too distant future.

I would like to make a submission to support the Dam Raising Project.

As my family and I live in one of the worst affected areas we been significantly impacted by 2 recent floods in February 2020 and March 2021.
During both floods we witnessed the devetrstation caused by these events and the risks involved.

I have three main reasons for supporting the project.

Risk to Life:
The floods caused a significant risk to the personal safety of all those involved including residents, first responders and volunteers which where all put in danger due to the flood waters.
In my area there where hundreds of people forced to traverse dangerous flood waters to deliver supplies to cut off communities and to complete rescues of both people and animals.

Environmental impact:
I understand there is a significant environmental impact involved in raising the Dam wall but this would be outweighed by the environmental impact caused by the floods . I personally witnessed hundreds of tons of rubbish floating past my house and a large percentage of this would have ended up in the ocean. Most of this floating rubbish was plastic which as we are all aware is already a huge problem in our oceans.

Financial cost:
We incurred large personal financial loses by the recent floods but these would be outweighed the financial cost incurred by both local, state and federal governments to repair the damage caused and to clean up the thousands of tons of rubbish that where left behind after the water reseeded. These costs would exceed many millions of dollars.

Although raising the Dam wall would not stop the flooding it would significantly reduce the level of the floods which would resolve the issues mentioned above in my area.

If nothing is done we will all be put at unnecessary risk as the river will flood again ,It is only a matter of when.

To whom it may concern,
I wish to submit my objection to the proposal to raise the wall of Warragamba Dam as I feel that there have been many systematic failures in the EIS and so many important issues have not been thoroughly investigated.
I am horrified that this action would involve complete destruction of so much of our wonderful national park and wilderness area, as well as flora and fauna and indigenous areas. This would threaten the area's obligations under the World Heritage Convention.
To destroy so much of our World Heritage listed area for the sake of more houses being built on a floodplain would be a horrendous decision which would be regretted by future generations, so I would plead for the authorities to consider other options which ARE available.

Good Morning,

Re: Warragamba Dam Raising Project – SSI-8441

I am writing in support of the NSW Government raising the Warragamba Dam wall project. I believe that this project will minimise significant risks to life and livelihoods; damage to urban and rural property; and, the major dislocation of economic activity from rapid, deep flooding.

My reasons for supporting this project - In the recent March 2021 floods our small community of Pitt Town was greatly affected. Seeing family and friends properties going under is a sight I do not wish to see again. Not only do I live in a flood area my works head office and workshop falls within the flood area. Our business had to shut down during these floods. The impact was not only on the livelihoods of our employees it affected our contractors, suppliers and clients.

This is an important project that will provide the residents and businesses in the flood affected area an additional level of protection by reducing the depth and extent of future flooding.

I Jason Moylan, have not made any Political Donations in the past two years.

Hello reader,
This doesn't need to be another copy and paste submission as the points against the raising of the dam wall have been made eloquently and repeatedly by many folk already.
I write to express my despair about this proposal and the barely hidden disdain for any who oppose or even question the validity of it.
Who is supportive other than politicians and infrastructure contractors? Where are the voices of the alleged thousands of residents who will be "saved" by the wall? I haven't seen any pro-raising grassroots material and I genuinely would drink tea with those folk if they were willing to share their fears and point of view so I could understand their perspective.

It's been a hard couple of years in the Mtns and surrounds and my weekly bushwalking has felt more and more like bearing witness to change rather than just for my own regeneration. When the creek out the back of my place in north Hazo stopped running for about 2 months in summer of 2019/2020 the impact of drought and global heating really landed with local context. That little creek has been a reliable water source for wildlife for the whole 14 years I've been visiting, even at a trickle, and it's cessation scared me more than the fires that loomed close for months.
Responding to potential future weather events by risking a fragile environment already under threat is a madness feedback loop that blindly ignores how little we are doing to address the climate emergency as an emitting nation.
If raising the wall was part of a hydro electric scheme or basis for solar than discussing mitigation of harm could done in good faith with the community, who are just placeholders for future generations.
I am not an expert on anything, let alone heritage listing, endangered species conservation, flood water forecasting and development risk management, and I can't peer review any of their reports, but I trust what I read when they state concern about the EIS to date and that more needs to be done to propose this project with full transparency.
I do not support the proposal to raise the Warragamba dam wall.

We totally support the raising of Warragamba Dam.

The reason we support the raising of the Dam are.

1. Our business is operated on land that is at the 16 metre level, we built it up to this level because in 1980 this was the 1 in 100 year level.
We now operate at this level with all the electrical components at 17.3 metres or above.

2. Since the building of Hawkesbury Valley Way, we now have to exit our business in flood time via Railway Road South. This means the flood level starts to cut us and other Mulgrave Road residents off when it reaches 12.5 metres. This could be improved if the Council would raise Railway Road South by half (1/2) a meter. Our exit limit would then be 13 metres, the height over the railway crossing at Mulgrave.

Looking at these figures on the heights after the raising of Warragamba Dam, we would no longer have a flood problem. At the moment every ½ metre of rise above 13 metres costs us 1 day of operation on the rise and the fall of the river level. (ie) if we got a 14.5 metre flood now it would cost our farms and our customer’s farms up to 6 days of supply of compost that would then go to waste.

We estimate the cost to us and our customers would be in the order of $580,000.00 per day that they couldn’t get substrate.

Our farm’s and our Customer’s farm’s grow enough Mushrooms to supply 70% of NSW consumption.

Hence our very strong support for the raising of the dam.

Besides this we strongly support the raising of the dam as there is many islands formed in this area that traps people in flood, in all floods of 12 metres and over.

To whom it may concern,
I wish to express my strong objection to the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall on the basis of the following points:
I have first-hand experience of bushwalking in the Kanagra Boyd and the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area including the mighty Kowmung River. There are very good reasons that this country has a World Heritage listing, not only is it a place of breathtaking natural beauty, it is also home to wild rivers, unique eucalyptus forests, habitat for threatened species and thousands of cultural heritage sites of significance to the peoples of the oldest continuous culture on the planet.
The benefits to health and well being from time spent in these beautiful wild places are proven. The opportunity for millions of Sydney residents to enjoy recreation in such a beautiful wilderness, so close to a congested city of five million people, are incalculable, particularly for future generations. So to for the native fauna and flora, some of which are considered endangered. The clean air and rainfall generated by such a wilderness is critical to the survival of all life, including us humans.
I note concerns raised by Federal authorities (leaked to the ABC) that the EIS (prepared by SMEC) lacked evidence to support claims that raising the dam wall and effectively flooding the lower reaches of the Kowmung and environmentally sensitive areas of a World Heritage listed wilderness would have a net benefit in flood mitigation without an unacceptable loss of biodiversity and world heritage. I have read the EIS and it is clearly written with a desired outcome, that is; to support the NSW State Government /Water NSW objective to appear to be acting in the interests of flood-affected property owners however the real beneficiary here would be property developers. The impacts are vastly understated. The benefits are unconvincing in the face of scientific analysis.
I believe there should be further consideration of alternative flood mitigation strategies, including actually lowering the level of the dam to provide a safety buffer in high rainfall events, in concert with operations of the desalination plant and vastly increased use of recycled water in urban and suburban areas. I noter UTS research which showed that this would actually be cheaper than raising the dam wall. In any case, it has been shown that 45% of floodwaters affecting the Hawkebury Nepean flood plains are derived from areas outside the Warragamba Dam catchment, and so raising the wall alone will not prevent flooding of the Hawkesbury Nepean valley.
I believe if the NSW government really cared about impacts upon flood-affected residents as well as the natural amenity for millions of residents of Sydney, and the world, they would give proper consideration to halting further development of the flood plains, and undertake a proper, serious, evidence-based assessment of impacts upon all stakeholders, including the Gundungurra and Dharug First Nations People, property owners downstream and the endangered flora and fauna of the Blue Mountains region. The value of a World Heritage Area is far greater than that of further urban sprawl.
The first step is to refuse the application on the basis of a flawed EIS and then undertake a comprehensive study of alternatives.
I thank you for the opportunity to express my opposition to the raising of Warragamba Dam wall and trust that common sense and common decency as well as federal environmental law will prevail.

To whom it may concern,
I am writing as a resident of the Blue Mountains and a normal citizen that is extremely concerned about the NSW government plans to Raise the Warragamba Dam wall.
NSW and Sydney have an extremely privileged position to have a World Heritage environmental site next to the city. The Blue Mountains, not only provide a beautiful natural environment for people to enjoy and more importantly is habitat to critically endangered species like the Regent Honeyeaters, koalas and Sydney's last Emu population. The natural environment and biodiversity in the Blue Mountains is a very special gift that needs to be preserved for many future generations. This is the reason the Blue Mountains is listed as a World Heritage site and it would be criminal to do anything to endanger this for future generations.
In addition, the Commonealth governement has estimated at least 1500 Indigenous cultural sites would be inundated. Australia's indigenous culture has already been decimated by colonialism and this would further destroy this already fragile culture.
Over 65km of wilderness rivers, 5700 hectares of National Parks and 1300 hectares of the Greater Blue Mountains Heritage Area would be inundated by the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.
I implore our government to look after the interests of our future generations and not to the short term needs of developers who want to develop the Western Sydney area.
The raising of the Warragamba Dam wall will not only destroy the environment in the Blue Mountains Heritage area, it will detrimentally effect the environment of the Western Sydney area as a result of the development that will proceed should the dam wall be raised.
The facts of the impacts of the raising of the dam wall speak for themselves, however if you have children or know people with children, it is your duty to make a decision to not only care but preserve the environment that they will be living.
For these reasons, I am strongly opposed to the raising of the dam wall.

To whom it may concern,
As a resident of the Upper Blue Mountains and a keen bushwalker of this area, I am deeply concerned by the proposal of Water NSW to raise the dam wall of Warragamba Dam to hold water at a level up to 17 meters above its present level. The impact of holding water at this height even if for only a few months will negatively impact the surrounding habitat devastating both flora and fauna with immeasurable consequences to the cultural sites of our First Nation People. This area forms an integral part of the Blue Mountains National Park with its unique character given international status and protection in recognition of the area's extraordinary biodiversity and ecological integrity. It is estimated that approximately 7000 hectares of National Parks including 1300 hectares of World Heritage Area would be decimated. Australia is a signatory to the World Heritage Convention with both state and Federal governments committing to future generations to protect the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The proposal to raise the dam wall trashes this commitment and if approved will only give credence to our international reputation as environmental vandals.

The integrity of the environmental impact statement is fundamentally flawed, with both the cultural and environmental surveys which this document relies upon being utterly inadequate. For example, only 27% of the impacted area was assessed for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage. This document has also been scrutinised by both the Commonwealth Department of Environment and the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Both groups have concerns regarding the serious failings in the assessment of the impact on the cultural heritage of the Gundungurra traditional owners. In addition, no consent has been obtained from the Gundungurra Traditional Owners for the work that will significantly impact their cultural heritage. The unprecedented fires of the 2019/2020 season that devastated 81% of the Blue Mountains heritage area have also not been considered. The EIS relies on surveys conducted before this fire event. As such this would be totally inadequate as these fires changed the very nature of the Blue Mountains and drove many species to the brink of local extinction.

The rationale for this project, I believe is deeply flawed. The hypothesis and justification are that raising the dam wall will reduce the risk of future flooding to residents and businesses across Western Sydney. This premise is flawed. Almost 50% of floodwaters that have historically impacted the floodplain originate from rivers and creeks outside the Warragamba catchment. In addition, the use of hard surfaces for roads, housing, and other structures both within and outside the flood impact zone has also had a major negative impact on the capacity of the natural floodplain. As such, the capacity of groundwater to be absorbed naturally has been significantly impacted and coupled with the associated increase in runoff velocity has only added to the flood mitigation problem.

For the above reasons I utterly oppose the raising of the dam wall. We are currently under threat by the poor policy in respect to climate change and by what appears to be a disregard for the importance of the integrity of the natural environment for our own well-being. I implore you to reconsider the raising of the dam wall and to consider other options.

To whom it may concern,
I writing to express my staunch opposition to the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall. I was born in Wentworth Falls on Gundungurra and Dharug land. I have spent much of my lifetime, walking in the footsteps of Gundungurra and Dharug ancestors, exploring the unique beauty and cultural heritage of this country- a vast area known as the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
Raising the dam wall will cause unconscionable damage to this area and with ongoing impacts to future generations. It includes intergenerational trauma and sickness for Gundungurra custodians who will lose the ability to visit their sacred country and ensure the continuity of culture. It will destroy areas of ecological significance which are the remaining homes to already endangered plants and birds. It will flood the magnificant Kowmung River and destroy some of the most beautiful camping and walking areas in NSW. Raising the dam wall, will stop my small children from developing lifetime connections and lasting memories of being with this country.
Raising the dam wall erodes protections placed on the area and makes a farce of UNESCO's recognition of it as an area of significance to all of humankind. Our Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, is the sort of place that deserves our lasting protection, tenderness, care and recognition. Now and in the future. Do not ignore the significant and serious damage raising the dam wall will cause. My plea is clear and simple DO NOT RAISE THE DAM WALL.

Dear Sirs, I want to go on record as supporting this project to raise the dam wall. I take this position having had direct exposure to the devastating impacts of past flooding;

Firstly, I have many family members who are longtime residents of Wilberforce and Ebenezer; they have suffered severe property damage, financial loss and loss of earnings as they were “flooded in” for extended periods; the cost, both financial and emotional is high and cannot be understated.

Secondly many of my employees travel to St Marys from the Penrith, Wollondilly and Hawkesbury council areas; during and post past floods - some of them have also lost property, loved pets and suffered financial loss.

Thirdly, I resided in Penrith for 25 years, I saw firsthand the damage and loss to the property along Tench Avenue during flood times.

The EIS finding that raising Warragamba Dam would reduce risk to life and reduce flood damages downstream by about 75% - I wholeheartedly support the proposal to raise the wall.

To whom it may concern,
I am an ecologist. In my working life I have carried out surveys in the areas that will have the potential to be flooded by this proposal. I have seen yellow-bellied gliders and countless other threatened species in these areas. I worked on the recovery plan for Eucalyptus benthamii which will also be impacted, along with numerous other threatened plant species, by this proposal. The number of indigenous sites of significance to be impacted, most still unknown, would be enormous. The Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeaters are known to breed in this area, Koala and emu are also present - emu now being virtually extict elsewhere in the Sydney Basin. All of these species, sites listed above are irreplaceable and unique in the world.
As an ecologist I am shocked knowing that just hours and a few days were spent looking for threatened species. To carry out a comprehensive study would require several weeks over all seasons through the year. The assessment is totally inadequate and an embarrasment.
I have lived in the Blue Mountains for over 30 years - the reason we moved here was because of the bush and the wilderness. To threaten this incredibly unique wilderness and WORLD HERITAGE LISTED area to raise a dam wall for little to no gain is environmental vandalism of the highest order. This area is of WORLD SIGNIFICANCE, IT IS IRREPLACEABLE AND UNIQUE IN THE WORLD.
The proposal will not mitigate flooding of the Nepean floodplain. Flooding will continue to occur from the rivers and creeks downstream of the dam wall. Governor Macquarie in 1817 stated that it was unsuitable to build adjacent to the Nepean River due to flooding, however developers will do anything to try to gain more land to build flimsy houses on flood prone areas that will consume more energy, act as heat sinks and will be flooded anyway.
Approval of this project will set a dangerous precedent for Australia's World Heriatge and National Park protections, and I very strongly oppose the proposal.

Please see attachment

I object to the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall and the negative environmental impacts on a protected World Heritage area.

To whom it may concern, The raising of Warragamba Dam wall may not adequately address the temporary issues of flooding but will permanently danage significant areas of pristine wilderness in a Workd Heritage area as well as destroy First Nations cultural heritage. Recent flooding was exacerbated by the tardy release of water from the dam as well as urban runoff entering the creeks which feed into the Nepean Hawkesbury. While Sydney's growth depends on housing and infrastructure such as water supply, it must not depend on the degradation of the very physical environment on which we depend. We must work with nature. We are part of nature.