Hunter Water released a memo last week that discusses Tillegra Dam and other water security measures that has been under parliamentary privilege.
Managing director Kevin Young said that after reading the recommendation in a report to parliament by Sir Laurence Street he requested that the claim of privilege be removed.
Mr Young said that to say that Tillegra Dam was dreamed up in November 2006 is ludicrous and rewrites history.
“The memo shows that Tillegra Dam was part of Hunter Water’s preferred package of works for its revised Integrated Water Resources Plan,” Mr Young said.
“Tillegra has been part of the Hunter’s water management plans since the 1950s,” he said.
“The goalposts moved drastically between 2003, when our first major integrated water plan was announced, to when the dam was announced in November 2006.”
Mr Young said the memo should not be viewed in isolation.
“Hunter Water had done a lot of work behind the scenes in the 18 months prior to the announcement of Tillegra.
“In 2004 we began reviewing and modelling new water security measures, including a new water storage, because of concerns that the impacts of climate change and population growth meant our drought security plan was no longer appropriate,” he said.
In mid 2005 Hunter Water changed its land acquisition policy for Tillegra.
A total of 280ha was purchased in 2005/06 and another 500ha was under negotiation when Tillegra announced.
Mr Young wrote the nine-page memo on September 28, 2006, in response to a request from the then water minister David Campbell's office for information about major water resource and recycling projects under consideration in the Hunter.
It lists Tillegra Dam as being among four projects "worthy of consideration".
The document shows that at the time the Tillegra project had "not been robustly quantified, but is likely to be in the order of $250 million".
A further 28 documents relating to the Tillegra project are still classified as privileged.
State Member for the Upper Hunter George Souris said it was finally revealed that at the time of the announcement of the dam in November 2006, Hunter Water was not actively working on the Tillegra Dam project.
“Although indicatively an amount of $250m had been referred to, it had not even been properly costed,” Mr Souris said.
“These documents have been produced firstly by the Liberal and Nationals parties supporting a cross-bench motion in the Upper House and then through public shame on the Government withholding certain documents.
“Equally amazing is that when it was announced a figure of $300 million was referred to.
“In the 07/08 Budget the dam was costed at $405 million, in the Budget of 08/09 it was costed at $447 and then in the Budget just brought down for 09/10, is costed at $477 million.
“The Budget papers also indicate that the project is expected to be completed by 2014 and that $87 million had been expended to June 30, 2009 and that $10.088 million was allocated for expenditure between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.
“No contract has been signed for the dam's construction as of the present, however if a contract or contracts are signed I feel sure the dam will have blown out to $500 million, twice the figure suggested in the documents obtained from 2006.
“This is a scandalously inept Government that is just guessing its way through this controversial project, displacing farm businesses and taking some of the most beautiful and productive land in NSW.”
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