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OT - Raising Warragamba 3-May-2013 At 8:16:21 AM Wollemi

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> Up to a million additional vehicle movements per day in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley, causing traffic congestion, air pollution and resulting health problems in the whole of western Sydney

1 000 000 additional vehicles? Really? If so, when - 50 years hence?

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> A huge increase in run-off and sewage discharge that will cause even worse deterioration of water quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River.

Two STP's discharge treated effluent into the Nepean below Warragamba. Penrith and the vast majority of all of the City of the Blue Mountains. The latter comes from the Winmalee STP only, and I once did a tour through this place, where I was told by a professional that the treated discharge is better to drink than your tap water.
Wouldn't this healthy discharge assist with river quality?

Huge increase in run-off? Let us promote and lobby for storm-water harvesting. Now.

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> Loss of rich agricultural land to urban expansion and destruction of fisheries, including the major oyster farming industry.

I have kayaked both Mullet Creek and Patonga Creek in the past month - and seen near-derelict oyster racks. Not certain what is going on here, though flooding rains may have shifted the many racks. Nylon baskets of oysters have been seen washed ashore in both creeks. Is enough maintenance by the agriculturist being done?

I undertook a large tour of an oyster farming operation 2 years ago. We toured downstream, from Mooney Mooney along the Hawkesbury River to Broken Bay. Mooney Mooney Ck (adjacent to the F3 motorway) is over 150km from the Warragamba River junction.
Isn't of more immediate concern, the 'sport' of Power Boating gives rise to swash, causing bank erosion? These high-speed craft may be planing, but how many are entered in this weekends (May 5) annual Bridge to Bridge race. The river has extraordinarily few berms to dissipate the water energy, leading to sedimentation and hence depleted fish stocks. Back it up with the high-profile long-distance water-ski version in November/October, and the river is seen never to have a chance to recover already.

There was temporary loss of agricultural land on the Richmond Lowlands the most recent time Warragamba dam spilt. Raising the dam wall would have prevented this. The rains filled Lake Burragorang faster than the release could cope, and hence the spillway came into play.

I have seen in the last 10 years loss of agricultural land due to expansion of the Penrith Lakes Scheme displacing dairy farms along the (old) Castlereagh Road, as well as a Kennards(?) storage facility where there was another dairy farm at the corner of Coreen Avenue and Castlereagh Rd. The new Castlereagh Rd also took away agricultural lands, as did, ironically to the original gist of this thread, the artificial river of Penrith White-water Stadium.