Floods wouldn’t be ‘anywhere near as bad’ if dam wall was raised: Hawkesbury Mayor

Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly has told Sky News the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall is “really about saving lives” and hopefully the current floods “demonstrated this” to the state government. The Hawkesbury and Richmond communities, and parts of Western Sydney have been hit by one of the worst floods the areas has seen in decades as the Nepean River and Warragamba Dam overflow. The Bureau of Meteorology has downgraded its initial prediction that water levels at Windsor would reach 16 metres, with it now expecting only 13 metres, according to Mr Conolly. Mr Conolly said there has only been a “small number” of evacuations in the low-lying areas in his community, but the “biggest fear” is that a large evacuation of around 1,000 residents would need to take place. The mayor said the historic flooding will require state government financial assistance as there has been “huge damage” to public assets. He also called on the state government to explain its delay of the project to raise the Warragamba Dam wall. “In an event like this it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as bad if that project had already taken place,” he said. “It really is about saving lives and this might have demonstrated this a bit to the state government. “I’d be pushing hard to find out what is the delay with that project and why can’t we get a decision and some construction.”