A new submission by WaterNSW ‘strongly objects’ to the Dendrobium coal mine expansion beneath Sydney’s drinking water catchment, raising very serious concerns as dam water levels continue to fall, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.

In its recent submission against the Dendrobium proposal, the authority wrote that the project would “cause subsidence that would be higher than recorded figures at any other mine in the Southern Coalfield” and that “the predicted impacts of the project on water resources and ecology are unacceptable”.

WaterNSW also said that the proposal “does not sufficiently take into account a ‘paradigm shift’ in scientific understanding and policy settings that has occurred since the last mine was approved in the Special Areas”.

It also warned that the environmental assessment showed, “In a dry year, within the catchments overlying the proposed mining area, the EIS predicts a 100% reduction in stream flow to the Avon Reservoir and a 67% reduction in stream flow to Pheasants Nest Weir.”