Inquiry told wall raising proposal is puzzling

Professor Jamie Pittock from the Fenner School of Environment & Society at Australian National University, told the inquiry last week said he was "puzzled" that WaterNSW has rushed the proposal.

"There is virtually no dividend for the people of NSW in this project," Professor Pittock said.

The inquiry sat at Parliament House on October 29 and November 2 and will hold more hearings on November 27 and December 4. Written submissions to the inquiry closed on October 6, 2020.

"What the dam raising might give in terms of irrigation water, it takes away in terms of disadvantaging the people downriver who rely on that river for the beneficial inundations for things like groundwater recharge, for pastoralism and, of course, the environment," Prof Pittock said.

He went on to suggest an alternatives to raising the wall that he said "provides a triple dividend".

"My understanding is that investing in refurbishment of the inefficient irrigation schemes in the Lachlan Valley would provide more water for different users at around one-third of the price and have very little environmental impact, nor disadvantage communities further downstream.

"Many dam proponents try to inflate the benefits of their proposals by tacking on every conceivable benefit that often does not exist.

"In this case, there are unfounded claims that raising Wyangala Dam might improve town water supply and might aid flood mitigation.

"These, of course, are community service obligations that, under national and New South Wales policy, might receive some public subsidy.

"Our concern, my concern, is that raising Wyangala Dam would mean that there would not be a true user-pays approach to this very expensive project," Prof Pittock said.

Legal representative for "a group of landholder and irrigators, Maryanne Slattery, a director of Slattery & Johnson, told the inquiry the State Government has not been able to justify the rationale for Wyangala expansion.

"It just does not stack up on any grounds economically, environmentally or from a hydrological perspective," Ms Slattery told the inquiry.

"Really, it is tearing up the basin plan. It would completely undo the objectives of the basin plan.

"The project has been scheduled to be fast-tracked, but you really have to question whether that is simply a way to bypass any sort of due process or scrutiny," she said.

Ms Slattery also told the inquiry the dam modelling shows it is rarely going to fill or reach capacity.

"I find it extraordinary. It is poor governance.

"Nearly $650 million is an extraordinary investment into the Lachlan Valley and it looks as though it has been done on the back of an envelope. And even these calculations do not stack up."