Environmental Impact Statement work for dam wall continues
20 May 2020
Proposed raising of dam wall aims to secure water supply into the future
The preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed raising of Clarrie Hall Dam has continued during the COVID-19 restrictions.
Consultant Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd was appointed in December last year to prepare the EIS.
An EIS is a document that provides information on a project including its environmental impacts and mitigation measures. The EIS for the raising of Clarrie Hall Dam will be placed on public exhibition and submissions from the public sought.
Site investigations for the EIS recently commenced. These include:
• Updating the existing biodiversity (flora and fauna) assessments to comply with NSW and Federal government’s environmental assessment requirements.
• Preliminary soils and geotechnical investigations associated with the proposed inundation zone and construction areas at the dam wall.
• Site visits to potential archaeological deposits.
• Further biodiversity field surveys and archaeological test excavations are programmed for winter and spring 2020.
• Coffey Australia (a sub-consultant to the EIS consultant Eco Logical Pty Ltd) is preparing to contact a range of project stakeholders as part of the socio-economic assessment for the project.
The raising of the dam wall is one of the major projects Council is undertaking to secure our water supply into the future.
Raising the wall will double the dam’s footprint, treble its capacity and provide security of supply to 2046 or beyond.
Preparation of the EIS will take about 12 months. It will then be placed on public exhibition and Council will seek submissions from the public and interested parties.
All submissions must be formally considered and responded to in a Response to Submission Report which, in conjunction with the EIS, will go to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for assessment and making a recommendation to the Minister on whether the project should go ahead and if so under what conditions. Tweed Shire Council will then decide whether to progress the project to construction.
If you are interested in this project, want to review the EIS and possibly make a submission on its content, please register to stay informed at https://www.yoursaytweed.com.au/RaisingClarrieHall.
Council can then email you when the EIS goes on public exhibition and when the public (or virtual) meeting/s are scheduled.
Council is committed to full transparency on this project and all documentation is publicly available at https://www.yoursaytweed.com.au/RaisingClarrieHall
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Caption: The proposed raising of the dam wall is one of the major projects Council is undertaking to secure our water supply into the future. Photo: Matt Hopewell