Members are urged to make submissions on the ecological impacts of raising the Warragamba Dam wall. A member and expert biologist who has made their submission available to OFF notes that the Environment Impact Statement is inadequate in assessing the impact on biodiversity and cultural heritage and asks that the government halt this proposal to raise the dam wall as it will destroy World Heritage Areas, National Parks, Wilderness Areas and Wild Rivers, ecosystems of national conservation significance and landscapes of great cultural significance to Aboriginal people. The Government should seek other avenues to achieve flood protection for existing residents downstream and means of securing future water supplies.
The uniqueness and condition of the grassy box woodland ecosystems of the Warragamba Catchment Area warrant them being given special status as a Scientific Reference Area which should be protected by their inclusion as an Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value or listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999).
The suite of ecosystems that are contained within the Warragamba Catchment Area and the Blue Mountains World Heritage National Parks and other NPWS reserves rival the biodiversity of Kakadu or the Kimberly regions of northern Australia. The protection of these ecosystems in their entirety is crucial to maintaining the biological integrity of the Blue Mountains World Heritage National Parks and their World Heritage status. Restricted access into the catchment for the public and limited fauna surveys by staff and scientists mean that the value of the catchment lands to flora and fauna is yet to be fully discovered or appreciated.
Download and read full submission by OFF Biologist
The Burragorang is a wildlife Sanctuary in the Warragamba Catchment Area which is at risk with plans to raise the dam wall. See OFF talk on – The Burragorang