A group of WATER Northern Rivers Alliance activists who don’t want to see a dam built at Dunoon took the issue to the front doorstep of Rous Water today.

Fronted by Cara the koala and Widjabal-Wyabal woman Cindy Roberts, the delegation handed over 1000 hard copy public submissions to Rous County Council. The submissions were responses to the exhibition of the revised Integrated Water Cycle Management plan (IWCM), which is open for contributions till tomorrow.

WATER Northern Rivers Alliance spokesperson Nan Nicholson said she would like to see more people make submissions.

Polarisation

The future of water in our region has seen a polarisation within the community take place.

While the proposed dam for Dunoon was scrapped as an idea by Rous County Council, some people in the community have been calling for the dam idea to be brought back as an option.

Read about the Dunoon Dam poll: Dunoon Dam Poll Update: Yes or No

Nan Nicholson.

Read about the history of the situation: Elders say 'no dam', as future water discussed at tonight's Rous County Council meeting

Depolarise the debate

It’s a situation that Nan said needed to be cleared up.

“We want to set the record straight and address the many misconceptions that have been circulated by the campaign pressuring Rous County Council to re-introduce the discarded Dunoon Dam,” she said,

“Everyone has different ideas about water and some people have different ideas about what’s true – and that has been a problem. The future of water is a community issue, not a political issue.

“To begin with this has never been a dam versus groundwater issue. The Future Water 2060 plan includes groundwater with or without the dam.”

Read more: Dunoon Dam rescission motion defeated but is the dam now dead?

Changing climate

Knitting Nanna Jalley said she would like to see people who are promoting the dam to "lift their vision and read the regional water plan and the State Government’s water plan".

“Both say we need a number of options to deal with the changing climate," she said.

"It’s vital that we don’t rely on single solutions with a large outlay and no guarantee in an increasingly unpredictable climate.

“The solution is that we need a number of different options to come in in different contingencies. If it’s a dry period or a drought period, we can include different water sources.

“I want to move the debate away from local politics – the peak body of water suppliers wrote the all options on the table report. 

“If you have read it, you will know they say that dams are a possible white elephant and a standard asset. So, we are saying we need many options for our future water.”

Cindy Roberts.

So, does that mean we also need a dam?

“We already have a very good dam and the community was consulted over a decade ago about it,” Nanna Jalley said.

“A consultative group did a lot of study over three years looking at all the options and the result was there was no way we can have a dam in Dunoon for different environmental and cultural reasons.

“That was a decade ago, since then, technology has changed - and in the future, technology will change and we have to keep up with the times and look at ways to reuse water.”

The issues

According to WATER Northern Rivers Alliance, some of the ‘polarising’ issues at the heart of the future water debate are the misinformation being spread about the costs of a dam, employment and environmental issues.

Costs and water rates

“Water rates are likely to go up if the dam is built. The spending on non-dam options is spread out, going up in steps as new water sources are required. For example, several larger projects (e.g. Tyagarah and Newrybar) will not be undertaken for decades,” Nan said.

“Population growth forecasts indicate a 37% increase in drinking water demand in this area by 2060. Climate forecasts predict a reduction in available surface water of 22% by 2060.

“Demand is expected to exceed current supply from Rocky Creek Dam and other sources by 2024. We need to source water and it’s going to cost money.

“The striking picture that emerges is that the financial costs of the dam exceed the preferred scenario in the revised IWCM every year until 2060.

“This extra cost will have to be borne by the current generation of ratepayers for the next 40 years. 

Employment

“Advantages of the non-dam options are the boost to long-term regional employment.

“These wages however would stay in the economy and boost economic activity via the multiplier effect for years.

“This is the opposite in the case of a building a dam, which would only provide a short-term boost to the local economy, taken up by a multinational corporation followed by a sharp drop in employment on completion.

Environmental

“The environmental destruction associated with the dam option is many times higher than the alternatives.

“If the dam went ahead, we would lose rare remnants of lowland rainforest, crucial wildlife corridors used by Koalas and other species as well as endangering many rare and endangered plants and animals.

“The Tyagarah groundwater scheme has to be approved by the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) as well as the National Parks and the Wildlife service.

“That means that the level of the aquifer cannot drop and that tapping the water source must not affect the Nature Reserve, or koala habitat. We are required to leave 82% undisturbed for nature alone. 

Social

“The report identifies several adverse social and cultural impacts that a new dam would have if it were built.

“It is impossible to put a monetary value on these impacts but the costs are very real and will be disproportionately borne by the local Aboriginal community, the Widjabul-Wiabal tribe of the Bundjulang Nation.

“The Aboriginal sites collectively are of State significance and any threat is likely to be fiercely contested. This delay could take years adding to costs including finding other sources of water. 

Toilet-to-tap

“The pro-dam lobby’s cynical references to ‘toilet to tap’ recycling ignore the significant potential to use recycled water for non-potable purposes.

“Recycled water is used in many cities around the world. In WA, Perth is already replenishing its groundwater supplies with recycled water.

“In NSW, Ballina Shire uses developer contributions to source infrastructure for dual reticulation (the purple pipe scheme). Remember that 90% of treated drinking water actually ends up down the drain.”

For more information about WATER Northern Rivers Alliance, visit the website https://waternorthernrivers.org/