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. The draft EIS concludes that the project poses potential significant impacts to contemporary breeding habitat for the Regent Honeyeater that “cannot be avoided or minimised.” 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. There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area. I strongly oppose the Project’s offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater. There is no evidence that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset and any offsets would be unlikely to provide direct benefits for both the local affected population and the species.

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. The draft EIS concludes that the project poses potential significant impacts to contemporary breeding habitat for the Regent Honeyeater that “cannot be avoided or minimised.” 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. There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area. I strongly oppose the Project’s offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater. There is no evidence that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset and any offsets would be unlikely to provide direct benefits for both the local affected population and the species.

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. I refer in particular to the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.
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. 
Reports by BirdLife Australia suggested that up to 50% of contemporary Regent Honeyeater foraging and breeding habitat was burnt in the 2019/20 bushfires. Protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority.
There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area.
The raising of the dam wall at Warragamba is an unnecessary destruction of this bird's habitat and it's survival.
Since 1788, modern Australian history is littered with the destruction and extinction of too many native species. It is time to stop this un-necessary destruction.
Let's give nature a chance.
This dam-wall will not only impact on the well-being and breeding of the Regent Honeyeater, but also on the cultural story of the local indigenous people as well, and it is time to hear their stories and listen and act accordingly.
This wall is only being built to protect poor planning and future poor planning to squeeze more people and housing into unsuitable and dangerous locations. This government should be ashamed that it is even thinking to create more development at the continually expense of wildlife. It must stop and this proposal must be stopped.
This dam raising proposal is a con-job, the flooding will continue as rivers like the Nepean, Grose, South Creek etc, in heavy rainfall will not be impacted by this proposal and flooding will continue as occurred in 2021.
Warragamba Dam was not built as flood mitigation resource, it was built to provide drinking water. It is only now being planned as a desperate measure to protect inappropriate development on the known floodplain. and the result of this desperation, is the destruction of the habitat of the Regent Honeyeater and just a reminder that
Any breeding habitat is considered habitat critical for survival of the species under the National Recovery Plan for Regent Honeyeater and it states “It is essential that the highest level of protection is provided to these areas and that enhancement and protection measures target these productive sites”.
Therefore please save this habitat for the future and not the desperation of developers and government to avoid responsibility for past wrongs and obvious future mistakes.
Thank You for the opportunity to comment on this matter.

I 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 such as, the Regent Honeyeater. The draft EIS concludes that the project poses potential significant impacts to contemporary breeding habitat for this bird species that “cannot be avoided or minimised.” I believe that there is a need to do all that we can to preserve the environment so that these rare birds survive.

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. 
BirdLife Australia has suggested that up to 50% of contemporary Regent Honeyeater foraging and breeding habitat was burnt in the 2019/20 bushfires. Protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority. There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area.

Any breeding habitat is considered habitat critical for survival of the species under the National Recovery Plan for Regent Honeyeater and it states “It is essential that the highest level of protection is provided to these areas and that enhancement and protection measures target these productive sites”.
The destruction or degradation of a contemporary breeding site for Regent Honeyeaters would have dire consequences for the species as a whole.
The destruction and degradation of breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters is incongruous with the time and money that the Federal and NSW Governments have invested into the recovery program, including the Regent Honeyeater captive breeding and release program.

Thus, it is unacceptable and inconsistent with the National Recovery Plan for any avoidable loss or degradation of breeding habitat to occur.

I strongly oppose the Project’s offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater. Offsets are rarely an appropriate response to proposed biodiversity loss and especially for critical habitat for the survival of a species, in this case breeding habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. There is no evidence that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset and any offsets would be unlikely to provide direct benefits for both the local affected population and the species.

I have lived very close to Lake Burragorang for most of my life and I strongly oppose the proposal to raise Warragamba Dam due to the project’s unacceptable potential impacts on breeding habitat for the Regent Honeyeater.

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.  Protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority. There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area. Any breeding habitat is considered habitat critical for survival of the species under the National Recovery Plan for Regent Honeyeater and it states “It is essential that the highest level of protection is provided to these areas and that enhancement and protection measures target these productive sites”. The destruction and degradation of breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters is incongruous with the time and money that the Federal and NSW Governments have invested into the recovery program, including the Regent Honeyeater Captive Breeding and Release program.

I am writing a submission as I have a strong interest in wildlife and the protection of our increasingly threatened native species.
I am very concerned about the proposal to raise Warragamba Dam, due to the potential impacts of the project on the Blue Mountains Heritage Area and the habitats of threatened species. I strongly oppose this project.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) notes that the proposal's likely impacts on Regent Honeyeater habitat "cannot be avoided or minimised". The critically endangered Regent Honeyeater has only a few breeding sites remaining, and during assessment of the project 21 of the birds (from an estimated remaining wild population of only 350) were recorded in the impact area, including some with active nests. Up to 50% of these birds' habitat was destroyed during the 2019/20 bushfires (BirdLife Australia), making preservation and protection of remaining breeding habitat an urgent conservation priority.
The NSW goverment has invested significant time and money into recovery plans for various species, including the Regent Honeyeater, so destruction or degradation of the birds' breeding habitat is in direct opposition to that previous direction and spending.
It has been suggested that an offset strategy could be used; such strategies are rarely appropriate for protecting such limited habitats and ecosystems, especially when the habitat is so crucial to the survival of a critically endangered species. There is no evidence that the offset strategy would be effective for Regent Honeyeaters, or that it would provide any direct benefits for the local affected population or the species as a whole.

I strongly object to the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam due to the unacceptable potential impacts on the environment including to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and threatened species.The draft EIS concludes the project poses potentially significant impacts to contemporary breeding habitat that cannot be avoided or minimised. There are only 350 individuals of this critically endangered bird, 50% of their breeding habitat was burnt in the 2019-2020 fires so the other 50% must be protected. There is a National Recovery Plan for the Regent Honeyeater, requiring the highest level of protection for the breeding sites. The EIS reports surveyors found twenty one individuals plus nests in the study area. It is unacceptable and inconsistent with the National Recovery Plan for any loss or degradation of breeding habitat to occur. I strongly oppose the offset strategy proposed for the Regent Honeyeater. There is no evidence that offsetting breeding habitat will work, as the birds decide where they will breed, not humans.

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.
The Regent Honeyeater was once a numerous and widespread species found in Victoria and New South Wales. Flocks of 500 or more birds were reported in the early 20th century near Melbourne and on the Mornington Peninsula. The Regent Honeyeater is now listed as Critically Endangered at both a state and national level, with as few as 350 individuals remaining in the wild.  This loss of the Regent Honeyeater from its former range has been caused by habitat loss and wholesale land clearing.
More habitat was lost due to the 2019/20 bushfires, with modelling by BirdLife Australia estimating that up to 50% of contemporary Regent Honeyeater foraging and breeding habitat was burnt. therefore, protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority.
There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area.
The destruction and degradation of breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters, as proposed under the project, is incongruous with the time and money that the Federal and NSW Governments have invested into the recovery program, which includes the Regent Honeyeater Captive Breeding and Release program.
I strongly oppose the Project’s offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater. Offsets rarely succeed and are not an appropriate response to proposed biodiversity loss especially when it is habitat critical for the survival of a species, in this case breeding habitat for the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater.
There is no evidence that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset. Any offsets would be unlikely to provide direct benefits for both the local affected population and the species.

The EIS for this project is manifestly inadequate as it does not assess the full area impacted, only 25% of the 1200 sites of Aboriginal cultural heritage were surveyed, the impact on threatened species has not been fully assessed, the impact on residents of hundreds of trucks rolling through the area every day has not been duly considered, and the loss of tourist amenity that sustains the shire has not been considered. This project threatens a world heritage area that is very important to the people of Sydney, without establishing a vital need for it.
If the government is seriously concerned about the welfare of residents downstream on the flood plain (which should not have been built upon in the first place), it would be far less costly to compensate and move those residents. Proper cost/benefit analysis needs to be done, comparing these options.

The project is ill-conceived and the due process has not been followed in pushing forward with it.

Australia is a global leader in species extinctions and this embarrassing record has to stop.

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.
The draft EIS concludes that the project poses potential significant impacts to contemporary breeding habitat for the Regent Honeyeater that “cannot be avoided or minimised.”
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. Protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority.
There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area.
Any breeding habitat is considered habitat critical for survival of the species under the National Recovery Plan for Regent Honeyeater, and it states “It is essential that the highest level of protection is provided to these areas and that enhancement and protection measures target these productive sites”.
The destruction or degradation of a contemporary breeding site for Regent Honeyeaters would have dire consequences for the species as a whole.
The destruction and degradation of breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters is incongruous with the time and money that the Federal and NSW Governments have invested into the recovery program, including the Regent Honeyeater Captive Breeding and Release program.
It is unacceptable and inconsistent with the National Recovery Plan for any avoidable loss or degradation of breeding habitat to occur.
I strongly oppose the Project’s offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater.
Offsets are rarely an appropriate response to proposed biodiversity loss and especially for critical habitat for the survival of a species, in this case breeding habitat for the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater.
There is no evidence that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset, and any offsets would be unlikely to provide direct benefits for both the local affected population and the species.