Sanity prevails in Wyangala Dam proposal - $75 million already spent on planning costs

By Tertia Butcher

Sanity has prevailed, at a cost of $75 million in planning costs.

This was the reaction of Booligal landholder, Gordon Turner to the announcement last week that the Wyangala Dam Wall Raising project will not proceed.

“We are not surprised, as once people had a detailed look at the project, the environmental cost to 400,000ha of Lachlan valley wetlands and floodplains, damage in the local area, the construction costs and difficulty of modifying a working dam, as well as the legal constraints meant it was always highly unlikely to be ever built,” Mr Turner told The Riverine Grazier.

NSW Government announced last Wednesday it will not proceed because of the billions of dollars in construction costs and the potential catastrophic environmental impacts.

Minister for Water, Rose Jackson said both the project’s Final Business Case and an extensive independent review by Infrastructure NSW have recommended not raising the dam wall because it doesn’t stack up financially or environmentally.

Ms Jackson said the former government wasted five years and $74 million trying to justify a decision that was never going to stack up.

“Robust investigations show that while raising the wall by 10 metres is technically feasible, it could cause substantial and irreversible environmental impacts,” she said.

“Hydrological modelling also found raising the wall, with a five-metre flood mitigation zone, was likely to have devastating impacts on the internationally significant downstream environment, resulting in excessive biodiversity offset costs.

“The other major issue is the billions of dollars to build the dam wall.

“We have a responsibility to taxpayers to only fund infrastructure projects that provide maximum bang for the buck and, in this case, the capital costs are too high, and the benefits are too low.

“While Wyangala is not viable, I recognise the challenges of water security, reliability and flood mitigation for Lachlan communities do not go away.

“We know there’s a drought knocking on our door threatening the water security of towns across NSW which is why we are reviewing our strategies as a priority.

“The NSW Government will be seeking feedback on how it plans to address these issues in the draft Lachlan Regional Water Strategy, which will go on public exhibition before the end of September.

“It will allow people to have their say on water security and will put forward a shortlist of proposed actions to help support local communities, so they’re in the strongest position to manage a more variable climate over the coming decades.

“I encourage everyone across the Lachlan region to provide their input when the draft strategy goes on exhibition, because feedback from councils, industry and the community will play a vital role in helping us determine the best way forward.”