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,

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.

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 strongly opposed to the raising of the Warragamba Adam Wall.
To raise the Warragamba Dam wall is an environmental disaster. The loss of this area of the Blue Mountains National Park and it's unique wilderness, habitat for endangered animals such as the koala and regent honeyeater and Aboriginal heritage sites is greed over value.
I am completely against this development and am disgusted that you and the NSW Liberal Government consider it to be good planning. You have lost my vote for the foreseeable future.

To whom it may concern,
Please consider God's creation -that we as christians have been given the the privileged job of being stewards of the earth. To look after our home and not to artificially create problems.

To whom it may concern,
Please reconsider the pan to raise the height of Warragamba Dam.
In order to build housing on the Hawkesbury flood plain, developers want the government to raise the height of Warragamba Dam.
It is neither appropriate nor socially beneficial to build housing on the flood plain.
Raising the height of the Dam will flood rare bushland and result in loss of habitat for many native species, purely for the benefit of the developers.
The plan to raise the dam does not have the consent of the traditional owners.
The plan threatens the integrity of World Heritage and First Nations cultural sites.
The Environmental Impact Statement has been altered by Government officials against the wishes of its authors and does not support the plan to raise the dam.

"I write to you to voice my concerns regarding the proposed raising of Warragamba Dam.
I grew up in the Blue Mountains; I’ve hiked through the valleys, glimpsed cultural scared trees, crisscrossed the rivers, and admired the endangered native wildlife that will all be lost if the dam wall is raised. This year North Richmond, Windsor and many other towns were completely flooded and cut off. The worst flooding seen since 1967. I have friends who lost their homes in this event.
I have been following the reports in the media surrounding the disjointed process that led to the proposal to this day. They tell us of the lack of consultation with First Nations people, incomplete and rushed Environmental Impact Statements and concern from the Insurance Council of Australia and the SES regarding development in flood prone areas. There are further reports stating UNESCO’s concern on the World Heritage status of the Blue Mountains National Park. Not one bit of information I have seen has given me any confidence in the suitability of project.
In 2021 one year on from the unforgivable destruction of the Juukan Gorge cultural site where 46000 years of First Nations and human culture destroyed for ever, I am disgusted to think that your government is considering the destruction of more First nations culture. Do you want that responsibility to be on your account?
The Environmental Impact Statement released by the NSW government fails to address vital issues. It has been modelled on a 1 in 20-year flood event not 1 in 100-year event. In our changing global climate weather patterns are evolving and changing, becoming evermore unpredictable. Flood events are becoming more common and more severe. An event like this year’s rainfall and flooding has not been addressed. The proposal has the interest of developers in mind, keen to get their hands on dangerous flood prone land for densely developed estates. In February this year the Insurance Council of Australia withdrew it’s support of the dam and the development of the flood prone Nepean and Windsor area.
In March this year a senior SES member voiced his disapproval of development in the Windsor area they stated:
"There is a capacity in places like Windsor to kill heroic numbers of people because they won't be able to be got out in time,"
"That means that you should be focusing in my view on evacuation routes, building up roads so that they are above all of the very worst floods and they buy time to get people out."
How could you allow the development of vast swathes of uninsurable homes, risking the lives of your citizens and the lives of their rescuers?



Habitat destruction is one of the biggest issues facing our endangered wildlife. The raising of the dam would permanently destroy fragile and invaluable habitat.
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.
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.
The increased dam level would also destroy the Kowmung River one of NSW’s last true wild rivers.



By approving the proposal of raising Warragamba dam you will hold the responsibility for destroying thousands of years of First Nation’s Peoples history.
You will be responsible for every endangered animal, every fragile ecosystem, and every critically endangered species erased from our planet.
You will be responsible for every home lost, every family made homeless and unable to build a new home.
You will be responsible for every life lost in flooding events impacted by the dam.
You will lose the support from me and my peers in any NSW election in the future.
I strongly oppose the proposition of raising the Warragamba Dam wall and encourage you to not to support the raising of Warragamba Dam.

To whom it may concern,
I am making a submission against the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.
There has been advice from several government departments to the effect that the environmental assessment undertaken is not adequate. One of the concerns is that no comparisons were made with other solutions for flood mitigation for the Western Sydney floodplains. Alternative flood mitigation is likely to be more cost effective. By persuing the raising of the dam wall the government may be using public funds recklessly.
It seems obvious to me that Australians care about the environment and know they need to share and care for other species that should be thriving in this remarkable country. I think Australians would want to see the highest standards for an Environmental Impact Statement which impacts a World Heritage area.
Yours sincerely,

To whom it may concern,
I am so concerned that the possibility of raising the Warragamba Dam wall is still being considered. At a time when the whole world is under such a great threat from climate change we need to be concentrating on saving biodiversity not threatening it.
The news this week about the Gardens of Stone eco tourism demonstrates how important natural areas are to the economy is at odds with trying to put more housing on a flood plain and risking more lives. Raising the wall will not prevent flooding - especially as weather events get more severe - but will destroy so much Aboriginal heritage and endangerd species habitat.
Please reconsider and do another EIS.

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.
The engineering firm (SMEC Engineering) who undertook the environmental and cultural assessments for the project have an established history abusing Indigenous rights, recently being barred from the world bank.
Severe fires during the summer of 2019/20 devastated 81% of Blue Mountains Heritage Area. No post-bushfire field surveys have been undertaken.
Only 27% of the impact area was assessed for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage.
Threatened species surveys are substantially less than guideline requirements. Where field surveys were not adequately completed, expert reports were not obtained.
No modelling of the stated flood and economic benefits of the dam wall raising are outlined in the EIS.
The integrity of the environmental assessment is fundamentally flawed, and cannot be accepted as a basis for further decision-making by the Minister for Planning.
Over 1500 identified cultural heritage sites would be inundated by the Dam proposal. The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report has been severely and repeatedly criticised by both the Australian Department of Environment and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for not appropriately assessing cultural heritage in meaningful consultation with Gundungurra community members.
There are many alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities. A combined approach of multiple options has been recommended as the most cost-effective means of flood risk mitigation.
Alternative options were not comprehensively assessed in the EIS. Any assessment of alternatives does not take into account the economic benefits that would offset the initial cost of implementation.
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.