Locals in flood-hit Forbes are demanding the biggest dam project in inland NSW proceeds as the premier commits only to “work through” the process of what one leading expert has dubbed a “kneejerk pork-barrelling project”.
The NSW Nationals promised in the run-up to the 2019 elections to raise the Wyangala Dam wall by about 10 metres. The pledge, made near the height of the recent drought, has been dogged by planning delays and a tripling in cost to about more than $2bn, stoking doubts it would ever be implemented.
This week, Wyangala spilled billions of litres into the already swollen Lachlan River, exacerbating flooding downstream, and contributing to the millions of dollars in crop damage.
Scott Darcy, a wheat and canola farmer outside Forbes, said the flooding proved the project has “got to be done. Our population is getting bigger every year and we need water security.”
“It’s going to be shocking for us after this flood. We lose half a million dollars. If you’re a shop owner you lose twenty grand – it hurts,” Darcy said. “For us, it’s machine payments, infrastructure, new fences [as well as] making sure you have enough money for food and paying bills.”
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, who visited flooded regions on Thursday, told Guardian Australia the raising of the dam wall would be “critical infrastructure that keeps communities safe”. Still, it would be necessary to “work through” the cost of the project.
The project originally had a price tag of $650m. But as the Guardian reported in 2020, the estimates for building the dam had risen to as much as $1.5bn because of the soaring costs of biodiversity offsets. Earlier this year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the cost could blow out further to $2.1bn.
“Once we’ve got all the reports in front of us we’ll be continuing our discussions with the federal government to get these projects moving,” Perrottet said. Half of the funds are supposed to come from the commonwealth.
Phyllis Miller, the mayor of Forbes, said the raising of the wall should proceed whatever the cost.
“We have for many, many years not increased our dam capacity in Australia. It’s about time we did,” Miller said. “We need much more control over the dam.”
However, environmental experts believe there are cheaper ways to manage flood risk.
Jamie Pittock, professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University, said flood “control” infrastructure typically makes flood damage worse, not better.
“An egregious Australian example is that the flood control capacity built into the Wivenhoe Dam in Queensland after the 1974 floods was insufficient to prevent extensive damage in the 2011 Brisbane floods because too much development was permitted in the floodplain,” Pittock said. “In general, learning to live with floods is safer than fighting floods and failing.”
In the Lachlan River case, impacts have been made worse because the state government had failed to implement its own three Floodplain Management Plans. These recommended against building roads, railways and even irrigation canal embankments in floodplains that diverted flows and made floods worse.
One example was the government’s Lachlan River Gooloogong to Jemalong Gap Floodplain Management Plan from 2011 that identified the Forbes/Stockinbingal railway as “a major restriction to flood flows”.
Medium-sized floods like the current one also bring important socio-economic and environmental benefits that would be lost if a higher dam captured a lot more water.
“Crucially in a dry region, the inundation of the floodplain is vital for recharging aquifers that supply farms and towns with high quality water,” in addition to the benefits inundation brings wetland ecosystems, recreational activities and pastoralists in the area, he said.
“The proposal to raise Wyangala Dam is a kneejerk, pork-barrelling proposal that will fail any independent cost-benefit analysis,” Pittock said, adding that with climate change likely to exacerbate the swings between drought and floods, “giving rivers room to flood safely, will provide more benefits to society in the long term”.
A spokesperson for NSW’s Minister for Water, Property and Housing, Melinda Pavey, affirmed the government’s commitment to the project.
“The Wyangala Dam wall-raising is a critical piece of infrastructure that will support the community for generations to come, so it’s important we invest the time now in planning for its success,” the spokesperson said.
“Despite the impact of Covid lockdowns, the government is committed to completing the Final Business Case and Environmental Impact Statement as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.
