Giving a dam

Sixty-four square kilometres of bushland also was cleared to avoid dislodged floating trees from clogging the dam outlets, and cemeteries were dug up and relocated.

Why not today’s plants and sensitive indigenous settings?

As a youngster I remember my parents telling me about the many times they holidayed at settlements in the Burragorang Valley in the late 1920s where they enjoyed horse riding, exploring, and camping.

I also remember being driven a number of times to gaze at the massive aerial ropeway system which carried millions of tons of sand from McCann’s island, on the Nepean River just near Penrith, during the dam’s construction. This ropeway worked non-stop, and its impressive lumbering buckets were quite near the ground at places en route.

What this all suggests to me is the reality that such a massive water storage project may never be fully complete.

It also suggests that I would not like to be the government minister charged with making the ultimate decision of whether or not to proceed with this proposed step.