Comments in support of raising the Warragamba Dam wall by the Liberal candidate for Macquarie have pushed the controversial issue in the headlines again as the Hawkesbury recovers from the latest flood crisis.
Environmental campaigner Harry Burkitt criticised the Liberal candidate, Sarah Richards, for supporting the plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall last week.
"It is hugely disappointing to see the recent comments from Sarah Richards on Warragamba Dam," said Colong Foundation for Wilderness general manager Harry Burkitt.
"Sarah is wanting to represent the Blue Mountains in the Australian Parliament, yet is happy to put the Blue Mountains World Heritage Listing in-danger by supporting the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.
"The conservation movement will ensure that the electors across the lower Blue Mountains are fully aware of the ramifications that raising the Warragamba Dam would have on their local environment over the coming weeks and months."
His comments came after Ms Richards reiterated her support for raising the Warragamba Dam wall following the latest flooding in the Hawkesbury.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported the Liberal candidate saying she would seek the support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison to have the wall raised.
"That is definitely a conversation I will have with him and also the ministers responsible," Cr Richards told the media outlets.
"I get really frustrated with heated arguments from the opposite side saying it's about development. It's not, it's about protecting the people and the property that was there long before any of us."
The reports said Ms Richards did not believe her stance lessened her "desire to make sure all environmental factors are taken into consideration" over the dam wall proposal.
In a visit to Blackheath with federal environment minister Sussan Ley on February 11, Ms Richards also said while she was on the public record supporting the dam wall raising, "there is an assessment underway and feedback from the community is crucial in terms of the next steps".
She said the wall raising was one of a "suite of mitigation measures" to alleviate flooding in the Hawkesbury.
During the same visit, the environment minister said the federal government was waiting for the assessment process, undertaken by the state government, to be completed.
"The bilateral assessment is being done by NSW, and we are tuned into that, but it is their process at the moment... My department will assess the development against the outstanding universal values but also recognise all of the factors - economic, social and development related - that relate to this project," said Ms Ley.
While the Blue Mountains Conservation Society didn't criticise Ms Richards by name, they were scathing of the dam wall proposal.
Madi Maclean, Vice President of the Blue Mountains Conservation Society, said "raising Warragamba Dam wall would inundate 4700 hectares of the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park and 65 kilometres of wilderness streams threatening numerous plants, animals as well as significant Aboriginal heritage. It's an incredibly destructive proposal which, worst of all, would not actually solve the problem of flooding in Western Sydney".
Ms Maclean added: "It's important that politicians offer people solutions that work rather than going for something that's questionable in the eyes of experts. Otherwise, it's just false hope which is actually deceptive and cruel".
"Leaked charts published in the Sydney Morning Herald have shown that raising the wall would have only a moderate effect even in a 1 in 500-year flood event. The report by Professor Jamie Pittock from the Australian National University outlined that half of all floodwaters in the Hawkesbury-Nepean originate from catchment areas that are not upstream of Warragamba Dam. This means that even if a raised Warragamba Dam was to hold back some flood waters, other catchments could still cause significant flooding in the valley. In fact, floodwaters from the Grose River alone can cause moderate to major flooding of Richmond in the lower Hawkesbury."