Plans for dam under scrutiny
Louise Hall in the Sydney Morning Herald August 21, 2010, writes…
CLAIMS that the case for building the controversial $477 million Tillegra dam is based on outdated climate change and population data and flawed environmental modelling are being taken seriously by the state government.
The Department of Planning commissioned at least four independent experts to review the justifications for the 450 billion-litre dam submitted by the Hunter Water Corporation, including its heavily criticised environmental assessment. The review will also consider a study by a leading wetlands expert, Richard Kingsford, who warned the dam would devastate the internationally recognised wetlands within the Hunter Estuary. Professor Kingsford found Hunter Water used inaccurate calculations to measure changes in river flow wrought by the dam.
Anti-dam activists say the review is ”a vote of no confidence in Hunter Water” and its claim that Newcastle will run out of water if Tillegra is not built.
”The doubts surrounding the need and the environmental impact of Tillegra dam are simply too large to be ignored,” Belinda Fairbrother, the campaign co-ordinator for the Wilderness Society Sydney, said.
The social and economic benefits of the dam will be scrutinised by the Centre for International Economics, a private consultancy which last year advised the federal Minister for Environment Protection, Peter Garrett, to dump the $1.8 billion Traveston dam in Queensland. The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation has been asked to assess its justification.
Mr Garrett has the power to axe the Tillegra dam under Commonwealth environmental protection and biodiversity conservation laws. The Labor candidate for the marginal federal seat of Paterson, Jim Arneman, said he did not support the state government’s handling of the issue.
The Liberal incumbent, Bob Baldwin, and the Greens candidate, Jan Davis, told a community forum they oppose the dam.
A spokesman for the Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly, said the decision to commission independent experts did not indicate that the department has concerns about the quality of Hunter Water’s development application. ”This is done on a regular basis,” he said.
The Department of Industry and Investment accused Hunter Water of using misleading or outdated climate change data. The Department of Environment and Climate Change said measures to offset the damage caused by the dam’s construction were inadequate.