Warragamba Dam Raising

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.”
Regent Honeyeaters are on the brink of extinction and the NSW government has expended considerable funds on conservation efforts which have held the line and kept the species ticking along, though by no means thriving. It seems like a failure of internal planning and a self-defeating waste of money to then flood one of their last remaining breeding grounds, which are irreplaceable. I strongly oppose this dam raising in line with my understanding of the value of biodiversity and ecological health to our entire planet.

I object to the EIS for the plan to raise the Warragamba dam wall because it contains flawed research, has not consulted the traditional owners, and endangers our World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Parks - as well as the plant and animal species that depend on them.

It's clear that the scientific research contained in this EIS is misleading and flawed. Threatened species surveys are substantially less than guideline requirements. Where field surveys were not adequately completed, expert reports were not obtained. This flawed document exists presumably because, if the state government openly admitted to the facts, the plan in its current state would not be approved.

As a cultural anthropologist, I also object to the state government's failure to consult traditional owners, the Gundungurra. 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.

Finally, during high rainfall events thousands of hectares of the Blue Mountains National Parks will be inundated by the raising of the wall, destroying habitat for already endangered species like the Camden White Gum and the Regent Honeyeater. Given the project will not protect houses in the western Sydney floodplain from flooding, its unacceptable that the integrity of the Blue Mountains National Parks should be compromised.

I hope that the EIS is dismissed for what it is: a flawed document that wrongly justifies a dangerous scheme.

I have lived in the Blue Mountains area for the past 6 years. I'm currently at the foot of the mountains but I often travel up the hill for bush walking with my children and solo trail running.

As a long distance runner I get to see places such as Lake Burragorang and the surrounding valley in their wildest, most serene form as I follow seldom-used tracks to chase sunrises amongst the bush. I connect deeply to the environment around me and it's indigenous history, noticing the patterns of nature whether I'm running through mid-July sleet or high summer cicada orchestras.

It's these patterns that concern me in this proposal: what some are passing off as negligible damage may look like a non-event through the eyes of white, environmentally disengaged, economically driven individuals, but the damage to incredibly important ecosystems and world heritage areas will be swift, permanent - and heartbreaking.

This plan is flawed from the beginning, with it's purpose to supposedly safeguard Western Sydney from flood simply being absurd.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley is a floodplain: it manages floodwater for half of Sydney. It is necessary.

It needs to remain as a floodplain.

The push by Stuart Ayres and his mates to cover this 'vacant' land with buildings is a disaster waiting to happen. You wouldn't design and infrastructure project without adequate hydraulic flow through drainage, swales and channels, so why are we looking to remove an entire city's floodwater control system? We don't need to fix anything here: time and geology has created the necessary check structures for us, making a convenient flood management system out of Penrith and Castlereagh's natural flatlands.

This is the root of the issue at the bottom of the hill. However at the top, even more flawed logic is being applied.

The dam itself is likely not engineered to handle the increased hydraulic pressure of additional gigalitres of water it needs to hold. The EIS displays systematic failures and cherry-picked information, starting with SMEC's terrible track record when it comes to Indigenous rights. Less than a third of the area has been assessed for Aboriginal cultural heritage and it's clear the Gundungurra people are being gagged when trying to make their case. Kazan Brown and other campaigners working against this proposal have supplied photographic evidence of some of the 1541 cultural sites in the very area that will soon be flooded for good if this plan goes ahead.

Plus, after the black summer fires decimated over 80% of the Blue Mountains Heritage Area, no post-fire bushfire surveys have been undertaken and threatened species surveys have barely been given lip service in the EIS. The critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and Sydney’s last emu population will be killed off, unique eucalyptus species such as the Camden White Gum drowned, and a number of threatened ecological communities including grassy box woodland will be left to decay underwater.

Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention mean it is critical for the Blue Mountains World Heritage site to be managed to protect its ecological integrity and authenticity. Any damage within its boundaries is completely unacceptable and inconsistent with World Heritage management principles.

Please - don't f*&k up this incredibly special place for my children.

There are many alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities and not create an embarassing, colossal political failure.

A combined approach of multiple options has been recommended as the most cost-effective means of flood risk mitigation. However these 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, giving a false economy to the 'cheaper' dam raising plan.

Finally, 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.

So what's the point?

The regent Honeyeater is close to my heart and geographical location - we are undetaking environmental works on our farm land to help to enhance the habitat of the Regent honeyeater and I would hate for these works to be in vain. I really dont appreciate the state government actively working against the good will of private landholders / business owners to do the right thing by our threatened species.

Moreover:

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.

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. Australia has a responsibility to respect international expectations for conservation of our natural heritage.
It is unlikely that the expected benefits of raising the height of Warragamba Dam will be realised. Flooding of the Hawkesbury River has been occurring from before the time of European settlement in Australia and is fed by several tributary rivers other than Warragamba.
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. 
Much of the Regent Honeyeater foraging and breeding habitat was burnt in the 2019/20 bushfires. Protecting remaining unburnt breeding habitat is of the highest conservation priority.
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.
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 damage, both environmental and economic (tourism etc) will be huge and irreversible. It will be cheaper to provide better protection for residents threatened with flooding, or even to move them. They need protection or moving anyway, since much of the flood water comes from below the Warragamba catchment and climate change will make the flooding threat more frequent and more substantial.

Water usage increase that would come with our foolish commitment to increasing population in Sydney still further, is better addressed with demand side strategies, which will also be needed anyway since climate change will, paradoxically, also bring longer and more intense droughts.

Our city is blessed with some of the most beautiful and will bushland in the world and it is imperative that we preserve this natural and cultural heritage for future generations. The planned Dam would destroy this heritage for all time and rob future generations of its benefits. I would also note that given the damage caused by the devastating bushfires of 2020 and the likelyhood of more bushfires occurring that now moire than ever we should take additional pains to preserve our wild places.
Of particular concern is that -
Just 27% of the area impacted by the dam has been surveyed for Aboriginal heritage value
Post 2020 bush fire field surveys have not been undertaken
Threatened species have not been adequately investigated
Finally as a lover of our rivers, and wild rivers in particular, I feel that these places are of incalculable value and should be preserved for all time.

Kind Regards,

Zachary Kendall

I strongly oppose the proposal to raise Warragamba Dam because it will destroy breeding habitat for the Regent Honeyeater, as well as destroying part of the Blue Mountains WORLD HERITAGE Area and kill many species of our wildlife.

The Regent Honeyeater is critically endangered, almost EXTINCT. This could be the death knoll for them. After all this country's wildlife has been through after the Black Summers bushfires, destruction of habitat, ongoing threat of climate change, this is the last thing the government should be contemplating.

I strongly oppose the offset strategy for the Regent Honeyeater. There is no evidence that this would work. Is this a lie government and companies who want to destroy habitat always use as a strategy? I believe so.

The time of just wiping out our natural world without is thought, is coming to an end. It is completely unethical to behave like that. It not only destroys our beautiful country and our wildlife but also the good in us.

Regards,
Fiona Woodcock

I strenuously object to this project. The environmental impact statement is woefully insufficient. Raising the dam wall is going to innundate unique and irreplaceable bushland and significant indigenous sites. The kanangra boyd national park and the Kowmung river are priceless, and flooding it intermittently in order to reclassify land in the flood plain for development is a crime. At best the project will mitigate (not prevent) floods, given the majority of water that flows into the hawkesbury-nepean comes from other tributaries. Even the insurance council of Australia who stood to pocket from this development have dropped their support. Since the 2020 fires the area of bushland around the kowmung river has suffered great degradation and losses, and none of this is mentioned in the environmental impact statement. Allowing more development on the floodplain is a short sighted money grab. I have grown up bushwalking in the areas that will be affected. I have seen those wild places that are so rugged even the national parks and wildlife services struggle to get survey teams in. I know the wildlife. I can identify them from the sound they make jumping into the river. I fear that the people making this decision have no clue what they are selling off. I consider the area sacred and my birthright as an Australian, and should this cynical, short sighted, poorly planned project that can't be defended economically, environmentally or culturally go ahead, I will extend a peaceful protest all the way to the wall.

My wife and I strongly object to the Warragamba Dam Raising.
We have been very fortunate to see the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater in the wild, searching for weeks in New South Wales and if this ludicrous proposal goes ahead it could see the bird severally impacted and possibly become extinct.
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.
We need all the remaining native vegetation on this planet to provide oxygen and act as a carbon sink.

Allan Rose
8 October 2021

My name is Leyne, I live in Summer Hill NSW. I am a great lover of birds, and Australian wildlife in general. Humans are time and time again proving that we take this planet and its inhabitants completely for granted. This plan to raise the Warragamba Dam is just another example of this.

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. 
that alone is enough reason to stop this plan.
Please consider this and the many other submissions and come up with alternatives
Leyne

Upstream inundation caused by this project would endanger already threatened plant and animal species, as well as destroy Sydney’s last wild river - the mighty Kowmung. This project will also risk the Blue Mountains World Heritage Listing itself. As an environmental scientist myself, I please urge you to reconsider this project and scrap it. The severity of environmental impact largely overpowers the benefits. Australia is one of the leading countries in species extinction and this will massively contribute to our embarrassing rank, do the right thing.

Many of our wildlife has already lost major parts of their habitats due to fire.

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. 
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.
That could work out to be roughly 42 birds. This is a large chuck of the 350 of their population, and will have a significant effect on the viability of the species if they are harmed.

These birds already show warning signs of impending extinctions in the form of them not being able to develop their proper call.

You have an opportunity to do something for the good of wildlife, so please, leave their habitat alone.

I object to this project due to the environmental damage it is likely to do, especially threatening the natural habitats of critically endangered species such as the Regent Honeyeater, as well as damage it will do to the Blue Mountains World Heritage area. As the Regent Honeyeater has only 350 individuals left in the wild, and their population was already impacted by the devastating bushfires, I believe it is imperative to protect these natural habitats and preserve our beautiful local ecosystems. Offsets are not adequate protection for such a dire environmental situation.

I have been bushwalking for over 50 years and am a member of the Sydney Bush Walkers, National Parks Association, South Coast Bushwalkers and the Nordic Ski Club.
I have a strong connection with the land and believe we need to protect the remaining wilderness areas that we have in NSW for future generations.
The raising of the dam will destroy Wilderness in the Nattai NP and the Blue Mountains NP.
It will impact upon our few remaining wild rivers in the NSW, namely the Coxes, the Kowmung, the Wollondilly, the Nattai, the Tonalli and many creeks.
It will destroy many indigenous culture sites. I have personally visited scar trees on the Wollondilly River and know how rare they are.
It will destroy critical habitat for the critically endangered Regent Honey Eaters and the Swift Parrot, not to mention many other endangered species.
I strongly implore the Minister to take these facts into consideration when making his decision.
I strongly oppose the raising of the Warragamba Dam Wall.

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.
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.

There are only a handful of contemporary breeding sites for the CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Regent Honeyeater and during the assessment of the dam-expanding project a total of twenty one (21) Regent Honeyeaters, including active nests, were recorded within the impact area. ANY breeding habitat is considered habitat that is CRITICAL FOR THE SPECIES SURVIVAL 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”.
There is NO EVIDENCE that breeding habitat for Regent Honeyeaters can be successfully offset.
We don't need dam expansion, we need to price water at what it is worth. My strata has no water meters so individual owners waste tons of water as "strata pays". This must be changed. All residences must have water meters, water prices must reflect its true worth.
If you expand the dam the NATIONAL RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE REGENT HONEYEATER IS NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT IS PRINTED ON.

Furthermore, the reputed total cost of the dam wall extension (circa $1.5billion), would be better used towards the second desalination plant which Sydney is inevitably going to need sooner rather than later.
Building a 14metre wall just for flood mitigation is HIGHLY CONTENTIOUS given that future governments could turn it into permanent storage which negates the flood protection. STOP BUILDING ON FLOOD PLAINS. ....... ITS NOT COMPLICATED!

I am a Senior resident of Sydney and I have witnessed flooding on the Hawksbury Nepean flood plain many times.
This proposal is not supported by a valid environmental and cultural assessment. The company providing the assessment has a bad international reputation being banned by the World Bank.
Over 70% of the impacted area has not been assessed for Cultural Impact and does not have the approval or permission from the Traditional Owners.
Almost half the flood waters come from areas outside Warragamba's catchment so this proposal will not be effective in preventing future floods.
I believe that the real motive for this proposal is to encourage housing developments on the floodplain. If this happens then future floods will leave the Planning Department open to claims for damage.
There needs to be a proper reassessment before continuing.
Allan Medway

I live in Sydney and have lived through floods on the Hawksbury Nepean floodplain.
This proposal will not prevent future flooding since half the flood waters come from outside the Impact Area of this proposal.
The so called assessment of environmental and cultural impacts is severely flawed and has been conducted by an engineering group with a tainted international reputation.
70% of the impact area has NOT been assessed for Cultural Impact and the proposal does not have the approval or permission of Traditional Owners.
The environmental assessment makes little or no mention of endangered flora and fauna in the impact area. No mention of the Regent Honeyeater , no mention of Sydney's last Emu population , no mention of the demise of The Kowmung River!
This proposal cannot proceed until all these issues are addressed and a reputable assessment is made.
I suspect that this proposal is being promoted by developers who want to significantly increase housing on the floodplain.
Jennifer Medway

I am concerned about the impact of this project on the survival of the Regent Honeyeater as the raising of the dam will destroy one of the bird’s few remaining breeding areas.

The Regent Honeyeater is listed as Critically Endangered at state and federal levels. There are only about 350 individual wild birds remaining and the destruction of a breeding site would have a devastating impact on the species. Given the time and money that the Federal and NSW Governments have invested into the recovery of the species, including the Captive Breeding and Release program, it beggars believe that crucial Regent Honeyeater’s breeding habitat would simply be destroyed.

The National Recovery Plan for Regent Honeyeater states that “It is essential that the highest level of protection is provided to these areas and that enhancement and protection measures target these productive sites”. This is a species that needs all the help it can get, especially after 50% of its habitat was burnt in the recent 2019/20 bushfires.

The breeding habitat for this critically endangered bird cannot just be transplanted elsewhere via an “offset strategy”. Offsets are rarely an appropriate response to loss of habitat for a critically endangered species and 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.

I do in fact question the need for this project at all, given its potential impact on the environment including to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and threatened species, especially since the International World Heritage Committee, flood experts, and even NSW Government members continue to raise significant questions about the need for this project.

I therefore strongly oppose the proposed project of raising the Warragamba Dam as well as the project’s offset strategy for the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater.