Listening to experts
Recently there has been a flurry of activity on social media, with a member of the Stanthorpe Chamber of Commerce suggesting that people posting comments from across the community (and not just POW! members) have no right to voice their opinion, and that instead only “experts” are allowed to have any view or make any comment on Council’s involvement in the Emu Swamp Dam project. On the contrary I say – once Council decided to become involved in Emu Swamp Dam it was then a matter of interest for the whole community, no longer just the irrigators and their experts.
That said, I thought it would be an interesting idea to have a look back at some of the expert reports to Council.
Just to recap, Council has spent a lot of money on expert reports for Emu Swamp Dam. And I mean A LOT OF MONEY. Which is of course our money. Information on SDRC’s spending to date on the Emu Swamp Dam project was revealed as part of a review request from the then Mayor Dobie (see Independent Council Election Observer (ICEO) decision of 12 March 2020).
The ICEO requested further information from Cr Dobie which she provided in the form of a spreadsheet prepared by Council in 2019 which listed reports, expenditure and records referenced to expenditure on Emu Swamp Dam going back over 30 years. Mayor Dobie stated that by reference to that spreadsheet various Councils with responsibility for Emu Swamp Dam, including SDRC, had, over that period, spent $2,610,919. The ICEO, by reference to the spreadsheet, calculated that, since [Council] amalgamation in March 2008 and the formation of the present Council, it had spent $1.625 million on or in relation to Emu Swamp Dam.
So what did these well-paid experts suggest? In April 2010, an analysis and comparison of five feasible water supply options was presented to SDRC, two of which involved Emu Swamp Dam and one of which was the Connolly Dam pipeline. The report recommended the pipeline from Connolly Dam as representing the best option in terms of all criteria investigated.
In 2017 a further feasibility study recommended other options which were more effective and less costly than Emu Swamp Dam. Emu Swamp Dam town water only came in only 5th in a list of 7 options, and Emu Swamp Dam combined town water and irrigation was 7th (i.e. last). The winners ahead of Emu Swamp Dam were (1) integrated water supply management and (2) Connolly Dam (Warwick) pipeline.
In the DNRME (State government) presentation to the Council in November 2020 when water carting was ongoing during the last drought, DNRME advised that Emu Swamp Dam offered “limited supply diversity” (i.e. was dependent on the same rainfall as Storm King Dam) and as of November 2020 Emu Swamp Dam would also have had “no active storage available”. In fact as regards Emu Swamp Dam and Storm King Dam DNRME stated that “None of the options analysed ... eliminate the need for carting from Warwick”.
However the DNRME presentation noted that Connolly Dam with no inflow could support carting until August 2022 and Leslie Dam with no inflow could support carting until Nov 2022. Both dams of course offer a supply diversity to Storm King Dam.
So despite many recommendations, it seems our Councils have failed to take the Connolly Dam pipeline proposal any further. Even if you are in fact an expert perhaps when it comes to dams no-one listens to your opinion anyway.