Do We Need a Dam at Byrrill Creek?

• Having two dams in adjacent catchments on environmental damage could be minimised this stretch of the river would degrade the to acceptable level Do We Need a Dam at quality of an already stressed river • NSW Weirs policy gives 15 reasons why • There has been no complete Fauna & Flora they reject dam construction/augmentation Byrrill Creek? Assessment of the proposed dam site including a population increase and if it Pros and Cons • Unnecessary to have a dam in an area of high rainfall breaks connectivity for species (both apply) • Council land sprayed with 24D and 245T • Best professional advice from the Council (active constituents of Agent Orange) for Water Staff, Community Working Group, years around 1984 may have residual effects NSW Dept of Environment, Climate Change in soil and water quality & Water (DECCW) and National Parks • Residents & tourists could no longer travel recommended against a dam at Byrrill Creek in a scenic circuit around Mt Warning as Probably won’t be approved under the there would probably be no access including • Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 the shortcut by locals from Byrrill Creek to and the Environmental Protection and Tyalgum Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Over the last 3 years, the $546,000 allocated • Environmental Planning and Assessment in grants to the Byrrill Creek area for Act (not adequately considering input from restoration, landcare and conservation the community) Disadvantages of Dams projects would be wasted • Traveston Dam was rejected due to • Estimated costs of a large dam would be When they fail (since all dams fail), huge nationally endangered species under the • $67,355,000 but actual costs are always waste of millions of taxpayers’ dollars EPBC Act. But Byrrill Creek has nationally underestimaged. Tillegra dam cost increased • Promote algae blooms by 59% in 3 years yet was still canned threatened species, two endangered • Interrupt breeding patterns and limit • Clarrie Hall Dam will provide enough water ecological communities and 45 threatened migration of species for the entire shire until 2036 and beyond species, two of which are found nowhere • Destroy natural water courses • Residents Associations’ letters from Tweed, else in the world (Pouch Frog and Lyrebird) • Permanently destroy natural habitat for Murwillumbah, Pottsville, Hastings Point, wildlife and contribute to species extinctions and Uki (representing 70% Tweeds If Singapore and the U.K. can thrive • Destroy people’s homes and lifestyles population) were presented to Council without dams, why can't we? Dams • Inadequate remuneration to displaced people strongly objecting to a dam at Byrrill Creek • Expensive to build, maintain and repair 5,000 petition signatures were collected in 3 are not the best option to meet long- • • Risk of sudden failure leading to inundation weeks and tabled in the NSW Upper House term water supply needs of the shire. of towns due to earthquake or extreme rain • Construction time can be several years with Legal Issues Website Resources earthmoving and noisy construction 24/7 Precautionary principle – Uncertain if http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuU3md0Vv5s • www.byrrillcreek.com - http://candobetter.net/node/2256 • New road alignments required threats of serious or irreversible All new developments (Cobaki Lakes/Kings Forest etc) should be water self-sufficient. Benefits to Alternatives While initial setup costs may be high, still the long-term cost is far less than a dam that has a lifespan of approximately 80 years. • Protects our natural environment for people to enjoy • Conserves habitat for species • Guards against localised species extinctions No public consultation. Recommendations • from the Community Working Group Advantages of Dams (CWG) ignored What’s Wrong with a Dam • Provide more water for people to drink • Core koala habitat (according to Dr Steve Phillips of Biolink) • Offer water recreation activities at Byrrill Creek? Aboriginal Heritage sites on Council land • Improve the view for those by the sides of • the dam • There are 43 threatened fauna species, 42 would be inundated threatened flora species and 3 endangered Toxic chemicals (many now banned) from 2 • Increase some property values • ecological communities within a 5km radius abandoned dip sites in the catchment area • Attract water birds of Byrrill Creek. The area is an critical may have leached into the surrounding soil Surpluses can be shipped to other areas in • wildlife corridor between 3 National Parks, and ultimately pollute the dam water need e.g. Gold Coast providing income for two of which are World Heritage listed, that • A dam would be a barrier to fish, eels, Tweed shire would be impacted platypus, turtles and other aquatic species & • Byrrill Creek is a high riparian conservation interrupt migration and breeding patterns status area. Tweed Vegetation Management Since the pros are far outweighed by Endangered Giant Barred Frog have spread Strategy allocated the area High • the cons, dams could be replaced by Conservation Status 2 (considered rare) down the Tweed River from Byrrill Creek. A dam would eliminate their breeding pool comprising less than 0.7% of all bushland, with most of the best examples within • Traveston wasted $100,000,000 taxpayers' Sustainable Alternatives Byrrill Creek money. Byrrill Creek has a higher • 400 ha would be clear felled, including conservation riparian value so Tweed • Rainwater tanks in every home and business lowland rainforest in Mebbin National Park Council is likely wasting ratepayers' money Stormwater harvesting • • Tweed Shire has been christened ‘The in a long and costly legislative challenge in • Grey water recycling Green Cauldron.’ Our high conservation terms of environmental and Aboriginal • Dual reticulation area would be lost to future generations as a Cultural Heritage values. Already • Wise water use (low-flow shower heads etc) place of beauty and a tourist destination. $1,000,000 ratepayers’ funds have been wasted by Tweed council on dam studies .

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