Warragamba Dam Raising

The proposal will destroy a World Heritage Site
It will destroy Aboriginal Heritage
It will destroy fragile ecosystems
The effects above are non-reversible
Building a dam wall is not the only solution to downstream flooding
The Government should seriously investigate options for floodproof housing and climate change mitigation. Look at New Orleans (post Hurricane Katrina) as an example.
The business case for this project does not stack up as noted by the NSW Environment Minister and Treasurer, Matt Kean
We cannot keep destroying the environment to save a planning mistake (endless suburban expansion) downstream. We need to think harder and come up with better solutions, they exist and they are possible. DPIE should demonstrate leadership in this matter.
Please do not approve this project

To whom it may concern,

I am making this submission as I do not support the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.
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.
The raising of this dam wall is sure to damage our rivers, endanger already threatened plant and animal species, and destroy over one thousand Indigenous archaeological sites.
I believe that alternate options have not been comprehensively assessed.

To whom it may concern,
I am very concernd about the plan to raise the Warragamba dam wall. It will flood large tracts of the world heritage area, drown several aboriginal sacred sites, kill many trees whne we need them to clean the air and thretean with extiction several unique species of wildlife. Also the dam will not prevent flooding. Other rivers will still flood and cause havoc with houses and people. A much better plan is to not build anymore houses on the floodplain and provide adequate access to getting away from the floods

To whom it may concern,
My husband and I, together with most of our friends, would never vote for a Political Party - or a Politician - which/who supports further damaging natural wildlife habitat by 'progress' - in this case the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam wall to the detriment of a vast array of wildlife.

To whom it may concern,
I have lived and bushwalked in the Blue Mountains for 35 years and over the years have developed an awareness of the complexity and fragility of this ecosystem. During this time the Blue Mountains was world heritage listed which is a recognition of the unique significance of this area, and the need to take care of it.
The Environmental Impact Statement identifies the following significant impacts;
*Flooding will likely impact on Indigenous cultural heritage, such as 19 Dreamtime Story sites.
*Increase exposure of the natural environment could go from what is currently hours of exposure to potentially ten days.
*There has also been a failure to acknowledge the additional impact that the recent bushfires have had on threatened species.
I regard each of the aforementioned impacts as unacceptable.This proposal must not proceed due to the risk it poses to habitat and indigenous sites of significance. I therefore object to the proposal.

Please see attached submission.

I strongly oppose the Dam. It will bring a lot of destruction of the environment and is an insult to the Gundungurra people.

To whom it may concern,
There are too many reasons not to go ahead with the dam raising, but the most important of these is tha Sydney people aren't saving and reusing their water effectively. Most of Sydney's stormwater goes out to sea or into the rivers. Surely it would cost less to start reusing this resource more effectively? This would assist in preventing flooding. And it won't cost our beautiful Blue Mountains World and Cultural Heritage.
Don't raise the dam wall, the cost is too high!

To whom it may concern,
I object to the proposal to raise the level of the Warragamba Dam wall level on the grounds that it will threaten and destroy indigenous sites and endangered fauna. Development of housing on the floodplain is a planning mistake that devastates people's homes but this disastrous planning decision will not be righted by destroying aboriginal heritage and the fragile environment of endangered species.
Stop any further investigation into this most destructive proposal.

I firmly oppose any interference in the natural systems and water catchments in the World Heritage Region of the Blue Mountains and speak up for protection of natural values in the Colong Valley region. We have devastated our natural landscape in many cases irreparably. Enough.

To whom it may concern,
WARRAGAMBA DAM RAISING
If the wall is raised 4,700 hectares of World Heritage national park, 1,800 hectares of Wilderness Areas and 65km of wilderness rivers will be forever scarred from sedimentation, erosion and invasion of exotic plants, including:
> Kowmung River – a protected ‘Wild River’
> Eucalyptus species recognised for Outstanding Universal Value under World Heritage listing
> Threatened Ecological Communities
> Habitat for Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater and Sydney’s last Emu population
YOU HAVE TO RECONCIDER THIS PROPOSAL!

I object to the project on the grounds that it is not a sustainable solution for flood management and will adversely impact protected and endangered flora and fauna upstream. I also object on the grounds that it will adversely impact on Aboriginal culture and heritage by continuing to damage Country. This project also encourages the continued to release of land for development in flood-prone areas.

To whom it may concern,
There is absolutely no reason to raise the height of the Dam. Haven't we learned our lesson on trying to change nature. Let's leave it, and save the areas at risk of flooding.
What we have is too precious to lose, surely you can see that our environment is worth preserving, and that even though you may only have a few years in office, the decisions you make will affect our land for a very long time afterwards.
Please leave the dam as it is.

To whom it may concern,
i strongly oppose the proposed raising of the Warragamba dam wall. It is inappropriate, unnessesary and inefectual in terms of its proposed purpose. It will damage World Hertiage and cultural sites; the EIS is totally inadequate in terms of assessing the damage to the potential site under innundation. There are many alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities.

To whom it may concern,

I write to submit my opposition to the Warrgamba Dam Rising proposal.
The Gundungurra Traditional Owners (TO's) have not given free, prior and informed consent for the Warrgamba Dam Rising proposal to proceed and the environmental impacts are significant and extend to impacting world heritage and cultural sites.
I note that the EIS is grossly inadequate, failing to adequately survey for threatened species and provides no modelling of the flood benefits of the dam wall rising.
It is no surprise that the environmental and cultural assessments for the project have been conducted by SMEC Engineering. The corporation has a history of abusing Indigenous rights and employing strategies such as bribing government officials to bypass governmental processes, or in other words, it cannot be relied upon to produce quality, comprehensive or accurate work.

It is imperative to note that in 2017, the World Bank debarred Melbourne based SMEC Engineering and its four subsidiaries in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after an investigation into corporate misconduct in south Asia.

To whom it may concern,
I wish to express my sadness and disapproval of the proposed raising of the Warragamba dam wall.

This concerns me on a number of levels - firstly as a nature lover and someone who walks in the blue mountains Regularly I have great concerns for the overall environmental impact this will have on the area.

I am also concerned that increasing the dam wall will impact on threatened and endangered species such as the Regent Honey Eater and the emu population who live in the area and have already had to live through the impacts of the major bush fires of 2019/2020.
As a nature lover I hold further concerns of the impact of the raising of the dam wall in the effect of unique plant species such as the Eucalyptus and threatened ecological communities such as the grassy box woodland.

Given the blue mountains area also holds a lot of cultural significance for the traditional owners of this region - raising the dam wall would also impact on culturally significant sites that are held sacred to our traditional custodians in this area.

I feel a lot more extensive research needs to be done to find an alternative solution that does not pose such severe environmental and cultural outcomes for the beautiful and unique blue mountains region, and all the significant flora and fauna and sacred sites that are apart of this area.

To whom it may concern,

There’s no doubt that the $3.5 billion needed to raise the dam wall could be better spent on services that help communities and won’t flood our World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.

Raising the dam wall is sure to damage our rivers, endanger already threatened plant and animal species, and destroy over one thousand Indigenous archaeological sites, the true cost of this project is growing by the day.

The project is not even guaranteed to stop serious flooding issues. A hugely expensive Ill considered project.

To whom it may concern,
I am appalled to find that the EIS into the proposed raising of the dam wall was undertaken prior to the devastating bushfires of 2019.
This crucial study should have been redone after the fires which impacted 81% of our beautiful World Heritage area.
Significant impacts from the proposal include destruction of a koala colony and an emu breeding ground.
Also slated for destruction are more than 1000 aboriginal sites!
Please stop this ill conceived plan in it's tracks and keep our beautiful World Heritage area safe for future generations.

To whom it may concern,
I am now 78 years old and am so disillusioned with this present state government wanting to raise Warragamba Dam. It will destroy the environment plus indigenous heritage.
Your government favours developers. People should not be building on flood plains. Leave it alone and future generations will enjoy all the benefits!