The World Heritage-listed Burragorang Valley is a living museum that the NSW Government is poised to drown beneath silt-laden dam water - without the permission of the traditional owners, the Gundungurra people, and without properly surveying the cultural heritage that would be destroyed.  

Last September, the Federal Government told the NSW Government to re-do months of work mapping the indigenous heritage in the Blue Mountains. This came after the Berejiklian Government lodged a heritage assessment that was found to be ‘flawed, inaccurate, and insensitive’ because:  

• over 860 archaeological deposits affected by the plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall have not been surveyed in the NSW Government’s impact assessment. 
• the traditional owners of the land, the Gundungurra people, have not been properly consulted to compile the heritage assessment.      

A heritage assessment is supposed to protect a significant Aboriginal area from heritage desecration – the kind exemplified last year by Rio Tinto’s shameful decision to blow up ancient aboriginal heritage in Juukan Gorge. 

Yet, the NSW Government is proceeding with the plan to raise the dam wall without re-doing this work.  

Indigenous leaders like Kazan Brown are rightly outraged, saying they were “locked out by the Government’s disrespectful consultancy firms” and “have been told no matter what we say the project will go ahead.”  

We are running out of time to stop another cultural disaster from occurring within one of Australia’s premier World Heritage Areas by raising the Warragamba Dam wall. We must as a first step commit to getting the impact assessment right. 

Niche Environment and Heritage is the private consulting firm that developed the ‘flawed, inaccurate, and insensitive’ cultural impact assessment for the Berejiklian government. Their assessment proves that the State Government – and their hired help - are unwilling to treat indigenous culture and Australia’s heritage with the respect it deserves. 

Please ask Heritage NSW’s Executive Director, Sam Kidman, to replace Niche with a competent, impartial and culturally sensitive contractor to complete the heritage assessment for this critically important part of Australia. 

By signing this petition, you’re joining thousands of Australians demanding that the NSW State Government take seriously its responsibility to protect Australia’s heritage.

Make your voice heard. Sign now.

What should I say in my message to Matt?

• Most importantly, tell Matt you don't agree with the raising of Warragamba Dam wall
• Tell him why he shouldn't approve the dam 
• Ask for a meeting as a local constituent to discuss his position on the dam project
• Tell him that that the environmental assessment that has been prepared for the dam project is inadequate
• For more information, contact us at [email protected] or on (02) 9261 2400

Why is raising Warragamba Dam a bad idea?

Raising the Warragamba dam wall is a clear breach of Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention. It would destroy:

• 65 kilometres of wilderness rivers, including the Kowmung River - a declared ‘Wild River’, protected for its pristine condition under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 
• Habitat for critically endangered species including the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater and Sydney’s last Emu population.
• Over 1541 cultural heritage sites being inundated if the dam wall proceeded. Gundungurra Traditional Owners don't support the dam, and have asked Rob not to proceed with the project.
• There are many alternative options to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that would protect existing floodplain communities.  A combined approach has been recommended as the most cost-effective means of flood risk mitigation that includes limiting development on floodplains, building new evacuation roads and lowering the existing level of Warragamba Dam.

What should I say in my message to Rob?

• Most importantly, tell Rob you don't agree with the raising of Warragamba Dam wall
• Tell him why he shouldn't approve the dam 
• Ask for a meeting as a local constituent to discuss his position on the dam project
• Tell him that that the environmental assessment that has been prepared for the dam project is inadequate
• For more information, contact us at [email protected] or on (02) 9261 2400

Why is raising Warragamba Dam a bad idea?

Elizabeth Kolbert, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for her book, “The Sixth Extinction”, is a long-term staff writer for The New Yorker. She spoke to Australian journalist Paddy Manning for the Sydney Opera House’s (on-line) Antidote Festival on Sunday 5 September.

Her latest book, “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future”, has recently been released – hence her participation in the event – and leaves the question of effective, or even feasible, climate modifying geoengineering up in the air (yes, that is a pun)!

The book’s title comes from the appearance of the sky after climate scientists have mimicked volcanic eruptions to induce a cooling effect, thereby altering its appearance. Research of this nature is burgeoning, she noted, leaving it open to being a 20–30-year research process involving global decision making – and we just don’t have the time or the global political aspiration.

The time lag humans have created from knowing about the effects of climate change and doing something about them means we are now at the point of seeing the climate we don’t want!

She points out that, as nations, Australia and the US still get wealth from the earth – gas, oil, and coal. Vested interests continue to rule the day with their wealth and power, but hopefully, given the world’s most recent extreme weather disasters – fires, hurricanes, and floods of unprecedented severity – and the upcoming Glasgow climate summit, leaders may be able to be influenced to bring about positive change?

Research for her book saw her travel to Iceland, Australia, and the Mojave Desert to investigate ways biologists are: making stone from carbon emissions; a form of super coral; and, saving the world’s rarest fish – examples of the immense challenges we have in reversing the effects of humanity on the very structure of the planet.

In closing, Paddy Manning sought to see if she still had hope for the future of the world.

Her response: we need to give up on emotion in relation to minimizing damage – to keep trying is the only option! Just keep doing the work. All of us.

By Rachel Symonds

The coming months mark the 20^th anniversary of three landmark conservation decisions in NSW.

First, in late 2001, Bob Debus – then Environment Minister and now Colong Foundation for Wilderness chair – introduced legislation into the NSW Parliament to transfer 40,000 hectares of land around Warragamba Dam (known as “Special Areas”) from the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The land had originally been owned by Sydney Water until the SCA was established in 1998. This single decision increased the area of the Blue Mountains and Kanangra Boyd National Parks by around 15%.

While large areas of Warragamba Special Areas were already managed by NPWS, including land that forms part of today’s Nattai and Kanangra Boyd Wilderness Areas, transferring the remaining area to NPWS was important to protect more land of the highest cultural and conservation value as well as better protect Sydney’s drinking water supply.

Second, legislation was introduced to strengthen the protection of wild rivers within national parks. This added protection for rivers was a direct result of the Colong Foundation’s advocacy, and especially that of Keith Muir. The Kowmung River was the first wild river to be recognised. The Brogo, Grose, Colo, Upper Hastings and Upper Forbes Rivers and Washpool Creek soon followed.

And finally, it was 2001 when Bob, as Minister then responsible for both the SCA and NPWS, formally scrapped the decades old plan to dam the Shoalhaven River near Braidwood, the so-called Welcome Reef Dam. This would have irreversibly altered natural flows in the river, including as it flowed through the Ettrema Wilderness Area.

This decision was a shock to those who were advocating the building of more and more dams. It sent an important message. That more dams were not the answer to Sydney’s drinking water shortage and that water conservation and recycling had to be taken seriously. To top it off, the new 5,600 ha. Nadgigomar Nature Reserve was soon declared over part of the former dam site.

Each of these decisions was preceded by strong and effective lobbying by NSW conservation groups. Each remains relevant to this day, especially in the context of the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

By Ted Plummer

Laziness, dishonesty and racism - that's the best way to describe SMEC Engineering's cultural report on Warragamba Dam.

SMEC Engineering have secretly released an Indigenous Cultural Assessment that has attempted to excuse the mass-destruction of Gundungurra heritage. Traditional Owners have been given only 40 days by SMEC to review a 2000 page Draft Cultural Assessment, and have been told they are not allowed to share it with anyone - even experts.

SMEC Engineering is a company that was banned from working in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for allegations of bribery and have an extremely poor record of working with First Nations people.

SMEC Engineering is clearly in the business of white washing cultural destruction. The history and survival of a culture should not be treated as a box-ticking operation.

Any assessment by SMEC Engineering is not worth the paper it’s written on. If the NSW and Federal Governments are serious about their commitments to the World Heritage Committee, they must find a new consultancy firm.