I am writing about the proposed raising of Wyangala Dam wall 10 metres and increasing the dam’s holding capacity by 50 per cent.

Increasing Wyangala Dam’s capacity by 50 per cent will have little effect on and above its present significant capacity, as it will have no effect on the other catchment areas of the Lachlan Valley.

This is simply because the other significant catchment areas contributing to the Lachlan River, ie the Belubula and Boorowa Rivers and the major creeks of Back and Mandagery Creeks all flow into the Lachlan River below Wyangala Dam.

We need to get our propitiatives right. Wyangala Dam and its flood gates have been very effective and serve as a great recreational area.

It’s the area outside Wyangala Dam catchment that needs to be controlled with dams similar to Wyangala Dam and its floodgates.

Most of eastern Australia especially here in NSW is in the middle of a drought and the best drought policy any nation can have is to conserve and store water and grain.

In my opinion the proposed raising of the Wyangala Dam wall 10 metres and thereby increasing the holding capacity by 50 per cent is a great idea and plan long term.

But wisdom tells me not to put all our eggs in the one basket.

Concerning and controlling the other two major river systems on the Lachlan River is a much greater priority simply because it will take 10 years to complete the work and then it could take another 10 years to fill and may be never.

Flood, like droughts in Australia, come along every 10 to 15 years and then a big one every 40 to 50 years, history proves that.

Australia is a wonderful country and we have a huge capacity to grow and export agriculture and our export earnings and that all revolves around controlling and conserving more water – the lifeblood of the land.

You cannot conserve and control water if you do not have it.

Wyangala Dam, as it stands today, only has a certain catchment area. The only way to increase the catchment of water in the Lachlan Valley is to build dams on the other two rivers flowing into the Lachlan (ie the Belubula and Boorowa rivers).

To the best of my knowledge there have already been feasibility and environmental studies carried out on the Belubula River at the proposed Cranky Rock dam site at great cost.

The pipeline from Lake Rowlands to Carcoar Dam is a great idea but is a small contributor to conserving water and flood control on the Belubula and Lachlan Rivers.

We need to get our priorities right and stop being weak and double minded and use a bit of common sense and build Cranky Rock dam and make it a priority and then start work on expanding Wyangala Dam.

Phillip Langfield

It is not very long that we were told by the Federal Liberals that Australia faced a “Debt and Deficit Disaster”. Given some of the pronouncements from the present Prime Minister, are we to assume that all is now well and that we can launch a spending splurge? 

The news that a very large sum is to be spent on the changes proposed for the War Memorial is one; the plan to move our embassy in Israel. Balance some of this spending with the transfer of funds from the NDIS to a time in the future to enhance drought protection.

It is not difficult to think that we are governed by chaos and inhumanity and opportunistic electioneering, not that that is unusual on any side but it is hard not to think that the pursuit of and retention of power is more important than the lives of the entire population.

Mary Kidson

Wagga