Warragamba Dam Raising – Aboriginal heritage
Client: SMEC Australia
Proponent: WaterNSW
Industry sector: State government, Utilities
Service: Aboriginal heritage management
Location: Warragamba, NSW
About the Warragamba Dam Raising project:
From the WaterNSW Warragamba Dam Raising project website:
“Major flooding can happen in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley at any time. Extreme weather events often strike without warning, making it important that we prepare for such events now and into the future.
In May 2017, the NSW Government released the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Risk Management Strategy – ‘Resilient Valley, Resilient Communities.’
The strategy is designed specifically for the valley as the most flood-prone region in NSW, if not Australia. It is a long-term plan to minimise significant risks to life and livelihoods; damage to urban and rural property; and, the major dislocation of economic activity from rapid, deep flooding.
It is the framework for the government, councils, businesses and communities to work together to reduce and manage flood risk in the valley.
The strategy recommends that raising Warragamba Dam to create a flood mitigation zone of around 14 metres is the best option to reduce the risks to life, property and community assets posed by floodwaters from the extensive Warragamba River catchment.
While a range of other infrastructure and non-infrastructure outcomes are included in the strategy and must be part of the solution for managing ongoing risk, no other mitigation measures can achieve the same risk reduction as the Warragamba Dam Raising Proposal.
WaterNSW, as owner and operator of the dam, is consulting widely about the effects and benefits of the proposal to inform the environmental assessment, concept design and, subject to all planning approvals, a business case to assist decision-making in 2022 about whether to proceed with these major flood mitigation works.”
Aboriginal heritage management for the Warragamba Dam Raising project:
Niche was commissioned by SMEC Australia to provide specialist Aboriginal heritage management services to support the Warragamba Dam Raising project for the project proponent, Water NSW.
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