 |
| Channon Gorge, site of proposed Dunoon Dam. Photo David Lowe. Image: Echo, 10 December 2020 |
It took a long hard campaign on the part of the Widjabul Wia-bal People and the people of Lismore to protect the area known as Channon Gorge and the river which runs though it - rich in cultural heritage as important today as it was thousands of years ago, high in environment values and biodiversity.
However, even when Rous County Council voted to take the proposed Dunoon Dam out of future planning in late 2020, it was obvious that the 'build it it and enough water will fall from the sky' brigade, along with those who appear to take umbrage at the thought of any Aboriginal landscapes escaping destruction, would be returning for another chance to submerge the Channon Gorge.
So the struggle continues and the Widjabul Wia-bal People are not backing down when it comes to protecting the land their ancestors also protected. On 11 February 2022, at their invitation, two members of the NSW Legislative Council met with their representatives at Channon Gorge.
Water Northern Rivers, retrieved from the website 15 February 2022:
Water Northern Rivers Alliance1
Our region is at a critical point
The current challenge for the Rous region (Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley council areas) is to create a drought-resilient water system without destroying cultural heritage and irreplaceable ecology.
In the face of climate change and projected population growth, the Northern Rivers has become an important testing ground for modern water supply options.
Rous County Council’s revised Integrated Water Catchment Management Plan (revised IWCM 2021) meets the challenge. It is investigating and moving forward with diverse options, instead of the White Elephant Dunoon Dam.
Recent council elections resulted in a new Rous County Councillors being appointed. The new make is predominantly pro-dam, so the time ahead is crucial.
 |
| Channon Gorge Photo David Lowe Image: Echo, 17 December 2020 |
Echo, 14 February 2022:
Just when we thought we’d seen the last of the Dunoon Dam, over a year after it was scrapped in 2020, a Rous councillor is moving a motion to put it back on the table.
The 2021 LGA elections saw the Dunoon Dam used as a platform for swaying votes on December 4, often the choice of ‘toilet water’ or the dam the only possibilities offered by candidates.
Now that this term of local government has begun, Ballina, Lismore and Richmond Valley Council have seen pro-dam councillors elected to the Rous Country Council which is made up of eight councillors – two from each of the constituent councils of Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley.
With the swearing-in of this term’s representatives, councils chose Councillors Sharon Cadwallader and Rod Bruem for Ballina, Councillors Michael Lyon and Sarah Ndiaye for Byron, Councillors Andrew Gordon and Big Rob for Lismore and Councillors Robert Mustow and Sandra Humphrys for Richmond Valley.
Ballina’s new Mayor Sharon Cadwallader has been nothing if not desperate to see the dam approved and has gone to extraordinary lengths to see it become a reality.
Ms Cadwallader has been voted on to Rous and she joins at least five other dam supporters on the Council.
Apart from the Byron representation, this group of Councillors have been clear about their support of the dam….
One of the results of this gaggle of duly elected environmental vandals gaining what appears to be a strong foothold on Rous County Council, is the motion set out below authored by a Lismore City councillor with the legal name of Big Rob.2, 3 And I have a strong suspicion that this particular motion was not presented (for formal agreement) to a full sitting of councillors on Lismore City Council – the particular local government Cr, Big Rob is legally obliged to represent at Rous County Council meetings.
Rous County Council, Ordinary meeting business paper, Wednesday, 16 February 2022:
Notice of Motion
Council Meeting 16 February 2022
Subject: Dunoon Dam
I hereby move:
That Council:
1. Adopt Revision 7 of the Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) Strategy (Attachment 1) and update Revision 7 of the IWCM to reflect the inclusion of Dunoon dam investigations as part of the Future Water Project 2060
2. Approve the completion of detailed cultural heritage and biodiversity assessments associated with the proposed Dunoon dam in consultation with relevant Traditional Custodians.
3. Defer implementing the resolution associated with the proposed Dunoon dam, resolved by Council at its meeting of 16 December 2020 (resolution [61/20] Item 2), until after Stage 3 options have been determined (Attachment 2)
4. Utilise existing budget allocations for Dunoon dam land management to progress the actions in Item 2.
Signed: Councillor Big Rob
Date: 19 January 2022
The meeting at which this motion will be considered today can be accessed by the wider New South Wales & Northern Rivers general public:
Rous
County Council meeting 16 February 2022
Public access, 9.30am –
10.00am:
Zoom
link.
Council
meeting from 10.00am: Zoom
link.
A public meeting is being held before the start of Rous County Council proceedings:
NOTE:
1. Water Northern Rivers, retrieved 15 February 2022, excerpts:
- Internationally significant ecological remnants are our responsibility
- Only 1% of our region’s Big Scrub rainforest remains. 6.7% is in the proposed dam site & would be destroyed or fragmented.
- These rainforests are part of the Endangered Ecological Community Lowland Rainforest of the NSW North Coast and Sydney Basin Bioregions.
- Water Gums and Grey Myrtles in The Channon Gorge are the largest on record.
- Loss of flora species is cumulative, relentless and ultimately terminal.
- 52 ha of critical koala habitat and corridors would be destroyed.
- Extinction already seriously threatens multiple species including the iconic platypus.
Why Dunoon Dam would NOT HELP with DROUGHT RESILIENCE
- A second dam would only receive water from the catchment above Rocky Creek Dam when it overspills. But Rocky Creek Dam currently has no provision for overflow and is full only 30% of the time, so a new dam may take years to fill. (Rous does not measure water flows over the spillway).
- Dunoon Dam is 3.5 x the size of Rocky Creek Dam, but has half the catchment size.
- In drought, when overall rainfall decreases, the runoff decreases even more drastically.
Dunoon Dam’s relatively catchment would deliver very little in a drought.
- Multi-year droughts, predicted with climate change, mean that after a 4.5 year drought we’d have TWO empty dams.
2. Big Rob Archives – The Echo at https://www.echo.net.au/tag/big-rob/
3. Cr. Big Rob Archives – The Echo at https://www.echo.net.au/tag/cr-big-rob/
No comments:
Post a Comment