Sydney’s main water supply could have increased capacity, but at what environmental and cultural cost?

Under a New South Wales government proposal Sydney’s main water supply storage, Warragamba Dam is to be raised by 14 metres, ostensibly so that downstream flooding can be mitigated by temporarily holding large volumes of incoming flood waters.

The NSW government wants to raise Warragamba Dam
by 14 metres to reduce the risk of flooding in Penrith
and Richmond-Windsor.

As is the way with dam proposals, it has attracted a great deal of controversy.

The proposed raised dam is located within the world heritage-listed Blue Mountains national park, would cost as much as the Sydney football stadium rebuild and would periodically inundate Aboriginal cultural heritage and environmentally sensitive ecosystems.

It is backed by the Berejiklian government in the name of reducing the risk of calamitous flooding in the western Sydney regions of Penrith and Richmond-Windsor.

Despite an election over the weekend, voters lacked the critical information needed for any meaningful evaluation of the political parties’ positions on the proposal.

Read the story from The Guardian by Ilan Salbe - “Sydney’s main water supply could have increased capacity, but at what environmental and cultural cost?”