Telopean Tales

TELOPEAN TALES – A PARODY

THE CASTLE? NO, THE DAMN!

Episode two of the series of articles regarding the efficacy of TasWater management and performance.

The comments below are the contents of two letters written by community members after a possible bizarre meeting in October 2018 with TasWater personnel including the Big $$$ Note.

TELL HIM HE‘S DREAMING

What seems clear from the possible ‘consultative’ meeting in Waratah is that TasWater, as an authority, have very little to no concept of community and social licence.

Their decision to decommission Waratah Dam is purely financial and they have understated the cost of their proposed actions while overstated the costs of alternatives of repair to the damages they have caused to the dam.

The Waratah Dam forms part of an interconnected and complex system of water storage and flood mitigation which has stood the tests of time.  To destroy one part would impact on the function of the remaining structures.

Drinkable water storage is one of the most valuable commodities in the world and essential to the community and environment, as well as being used for irrigation, firefighting and a potential source of hydroelectricity.

TasWater’s failure to recognise this, or to admit to their systematic failure to manage the dams risk factors over previous years, is plainly incompetent and negligent.

As one informed resident pointed out to them – you broke it – you fix it.

Ego and the Psychology of the decision- making process is now at play where TasWater is reluctant to admit their mistakes. In their defence of their flawed decision they are reaching for emotional and hypothetical excuses to justify their decision and attack valid complaints as being unreasonable or emotional

If the dam were to fail it is more likely to be through a pipe developed due to lack of maintenance and be a slow rise of the water level.

The vision Big $$$ Note would like us to see of a torrent of water rushing down the valley washing children off their bikes is statistically and physically unlikely.

What is more statistically likely is someone being burned to death by a bushfire due to a lack of available water to the local firefighters if the Dam is removed.

In the event he is truly concerned by children on bikes, or the Dam wall was as precarious as he says, TasWater has again shown its poor risk management behaviour as there are no water height indicators on the road over the river in town, no signs warning of a potential rapid rise in water level in the camp ground and no emergency procedures for such an event.

Our own models and evaluations of the catchment seem to indicate what Big $$$ Note would like us to fear most – a flash flood, may actually be more likely to happen if the dam is removed as there would be no mitigating buffer against sudden extreme rainfall events.

So we have as an analogy a situation where Big $$$ Note has borrowed your car for a weekend away.

He has driven it around the state and the oil light came on and then the thermostat showed a rise in temperature but he ignored it.

The engine seized.

You complain that he has broken your car and you want him to fix it.

He suggests that to repair it costs more than the car’s worth so he doesn’t want to pay for it.

You complain again.

He suggests you are being irrational and would probably be better off walking and don’t really need a car anyway.

In fact, he suggests he is doing you a favour by not fixing your car.

Big $$$ Note is selling a lemon and the residents of Waratah are not buying it.

IT’S THE VIBE, I REST MY CASE

The residents of Waratah were promised responses to their enquiries however TasWater have been slow to provide copies of Hydrology assessments, environmental studies, catchment modelling and costings for both repair and replacement assessments for the Waratah Reservoir Dam.

This reinforces the community’s perceptions that TasWater has simply plucked some statistics and figures out of the air to justify their decision- making process.

They are now covering their tracks and reassessing their hydrology report however we still don’t have copies of the original report, and doubt we will see what changes they will make with this current review.

The risk assessments were ‘doctored’ to escalate the financial risk scenario of the Dam and there has been a failure by TasWater to acknowledge that in four short years of “management” by them of this resource, their negligence has led to its deterioration.

Yes Main H2O Leak you did clear some vegetation from the dam wall and yes you did put a grate over the pipe inlet to prevent branches blocking it.

And yes Main H2O Leak you installed a new valve however in the process you excavated and shaved off part of the dam wall which weakened it.

And yes Main H2O Leak you did put rocks on the upstream face of the dam wall but the excavator shaved the clay surface and opened it up to the risk of piping which is now why you want to destroy it.

But no Main H2O Leak you did not raise the height of the dam wall as suggested to mitigate flood risk.

And no Main H2O Leak you did not widen the spillway as suggested which led to a near overtopping event and the start of piping erosion.

So you put in highly conservative figures into your equations to assume our rainfall was going to be much heavier, more frequent and for longer duration.

But if you apply the same conservative figures for dry times the impact would be devastating and confirm why this dam was constructed.

And because you are a highly paid executive, you Main H2O Leak and your highly paid colleagues at TasWater are having difficulty accepting that there could be an alternative view.

People that aren’t as highly paid as you can come up with better ideas to manage the risks and save the dam that you broke.

I once heard a description of an expert that in many cases seems very accurate- someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.

Such a person fails to listen to others and fails to admit that sometimes they may not always come up with the right answer.

It is our impression that TasWater is full of such unimaginative people and as an organisation is bullying its agenda through with little consideration for the needs and wants of the community it is meant to serve.

John Powell was born in Rushworth, Victoria; educated at Dandenong High School and Monash University; National Service during the Vietnam War; employed in oil/gas, water, and the resources sectors; proud Celt; protector of environment and Aboriginal heritages, stubborn and resolute …

JOHN POWELL: Dam(n) Waratah!