World news – Bitter dispute between NSW ministers over the spillage of the Warragamba dam

NSW Emergency Services Secretary David Elliott has accused his Cabinet colleague, Water Secretary Melinda Pavey, of failing to mitigate the Warragamba Dam spill during evacuations in western Sydney.

A dispute between ministers that has been going on since Lasting a year, has worsened as the heaviest rain since 1961 hit the Nepean and Hawkesbury basins and overflowed the Sydney Main Dam.

David Elliott has accused his cabinet colleague Melinda Pavey of failing to spill the Warragamba Dam

Mr Elliott said he had become publicly known in his role as MP for Baulkham Hills because of the need to release water from the dam in preparation for the La Nina weather event.

He said on Sunday, there must be « a full and open discussion ». about the management of the dam levels once the storm event was over. Ms. Pavey said the significant rainfall caused the spill.

« It is naive to think we could have reduced the dam to 25 percent. This is the number that current forecasts say that a spill would have been avoided. » Ms. Pavey said.

The government is working to change the operating license from WaterNSW, the authority responsible for the dam, so that water can be released so that the dam is 95 percent full.

A spokesman for Agency said: « WaterNSW confirms that 130 gigaliters of water have been released in the past few months to keep the reservoir at about 1 m below the full supply level. »

« This was done in accordance with strict operating protocols and resulted in that the need for dam releases was delayed by a full day during this event, which left more time to prepare. « 

Since the heavy rain, Warragamba’s overflow has released 450 gigaliters per day. Sydney Harbor holds about 500 gigalitres.

Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said it was not feasible to reduce the dam to 25 percent capacity.

â ???? You have to look over the dam; It is all the rivers that overflow, it is the persistent rainfall in very short periods of time. Ms. Berejiklian said.

Mr. Elliott has told colleagues that Ms. Pavey’s reluctance to lower the level is due to her concern about the perception of wasting water rather than protecting Sydney homes from flooding. </ A senior government source said Mr. Elliott was "absolutely furious". with Ms. Pavey and had raised the issue with her in the cabinet for many months.

The question of dam levels and water restrictions in Sydney was controversial in the cabinet last year, and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet was a vocal opponent of maintaining the restrictions. < The government rolled back Sydney water restrictions to level 1 in February last year when the dam reached 80 percent capacity, but the restrictions remained in place until December last year.

Meanwhile, the deputy prime minister said John Barilaro that regional NSW is preparing for further economic devastation after parts of the central north coast suffered the worst flooding in 100 years.

Mr Barilaro said it was heartbreaking to see regional NSW hit again as they wandered away from the devastating bush fires and the COVID-19 economic crisis « It’s hard to believe that as the regions regain a foothold after drought, bushfires and COVID-19, they will be slammed again, this time with floods, » Mr Barilaro said.

« The The economic impact of these disasters on the livelihood of our regional communities is devastating, and while the people of the bush are resilient, it is heartbreaking for local businesses to rebuild.  » on???? he said.