Money was available from the NSW Government and the bridge and Icely Road would have to be raised.

After many years of debate the money was returned to the Government after there was no action.

When the Bathurst Orange Development Scheme was started to increase the population of Orange the raising of the wall again came up but again no action.

When Suma Park Dam was at 22 per cent a few years ago I suggested, as some of your readers have again suggested, scraping and lowering the exposed foreshore with attention to the top end of the dam were the water enters carrying a large amount of silt.

This I suggested would increase the capacity of the dam and reduce evaporation.

The reply from council would make you think I had suggested a moon landing, formulas, differentials in soil types and availability of machinery and trucks, storage the list went on and on.

Also I was told there was no silting in the dam?

Before the recent raising of the dam wall I again suggested that the exposed shore line and the proposed heightened boundary line be cleared of vegetation and lowered to again increase capacity and evaporation, the reply to this was a polite 'mind your own business we know what we are doing'.

The evaporation problem has been discussed at a couple of council forums.

Items discussed have been floating covers over the entire dam or partial, liquid mat as used on farm dams and the planting of trees along the foreshore not only to prevent wind evaporation but to gain carbon credits, these were raised about 10 years ago.

As we can see there has been no action and we are on water restrictions,