Dump the dam
Nov 17th, 2010 |
Three independent reviews conducted by the NSW Department of Planning (DoP) have brought in a verdict AGAINST Hunter Water’s Tillegra Dam proposal. The reviews are scathing of the dam’s proponent, Hunter Water Corporation (HWC). They also validate research and reports conducted by independent experts such as Professor Richard Kingsford (UNSW), Professor Stuart White and Dr Simon Fane (UTS), Dr Steven Lucas (Newcastle Uni) and Dr Geoffrey Wells (Uni of South Australia), who found that Tillegra Dam is not the optimal water supply solution for the Hunter and would result in irreparable impacts on the Ramsar-listed lower Hunter wetlands.
The evidence condemns the Tillegra Dam proposal:
- current modelling of the Hunter Estuary by Hunter Water is inaccurate
- there is not sufficient reliable information for the State or Federal Government to approve Tillegra Dam
- because there is no sustainable diversion limit for the Hunter Estuary, there would be considerable risk to the Ramsar wetlands site
- Tillegra Dam will provide a ridiculously high 1:10,000,000 protection from drought
- there are better ways to manage the Hunter’s water supply.