A $650 million project to expand Wyangala Dam is underway to improve water security and drought resilience in the Lachlan Valley.
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The project, part of the $1.1 billion dam building package announced by the federal and NSW governments last October, will see the dam wall raised to increase Wyangala's storage by 53 per cent, creating capacity for an additional 650 gigalitres.
It has been described by NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey as "once-in-a-generation" infrastructure.
However, landholders in the middle and lower Lachlan are concerned the fast-tracked project could have a dire environmental impact and reduce the availability of groundwater.
Booligal grazier, Hugh McLean is a member of the newly formed Lachlan Floodplain and Wetland group. He said the group's main aim was to see that the project's business plan, hydrology report and environmental impact statement were made public before work on the dam began.
"The biggest concern from the environmental side is the capturing of the one in seven years or one in ten year flood events," Mr McLean said.
"At the moment those flood events would flow through the system and go into major wetlands at the bottom of the river.
It's either negligent, deliberate or both and it's very concerning either way.
- Mal Carnegie
"The Great Cumbung Swamp and the Booligal Wetlands are both of national significance, the Booligal Wetlands has one of the largest ibis breeding rookeries in Australia."
He said they were also concerned that reducing overland flood events would diminish the ability for groundwater to replenish in the Lower Lachlan.
"A lot of the groundwater recharge comes from overland flooding, so if you capture those events within the dam what happens to recharging the aquifer?"
A middle Lachlan member of the group, Mal Carnegie, said the lack of consultation by the government thus far on the project did not pass the pub test.
"It's either negligent, deliberate or both and it's very concerning either way."
The Lachlan Floodplain and Wetland group met with federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley on Tuesday to voice its concerns.
Ms Ley stated that the matter falls under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and must undergo full assessment.
"I am committed to meeting interested parties, in particular those that live and farm in the area, so that when I am presented with the final report for my determination I can have a greater sense of context of the issues involved," Ms Ley said.
Water NSW stated the wall-raising project was in its early stages, involving community engagement, early scoping works, development of a concept design and the final business case, as well as the commencement of an environment impact study. It said the environmental impact study's first draft would be made public in mid-2021.
The project's first major construction work is the relocation of the Reflections Holiday Park, which is scheduled to begin in October.
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