| Tillegra Dam | |
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| Country | Australia |
| Location | 20 km (12 mi) NW of Dungog, New South Wales |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Cancelled |
| Construction cost | A$477 million (est) |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Height | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Length | 800 m (2,625 ft) |
| Impounds | Williams River |
| Reservoir | |
| Capacity | 450,000 megalitres (360,000 acre·ft) |
| Catchment area | 194 km2 (75 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) |
| Website http://www.hunterwater.com.au/1279.aspx |
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| As of 3 March 2011 | |
Tillegra Dam was a proposed dam on the Williams River to be located 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Dungog, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It was first proposed in the 1970s but a formal proposal was not announced until 2006. That proposal was scrapped in November 2010. However, the Hunter Water Corporation still owns large tracts of land in the area of the proposed dam area.[1]
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The Tillegra Dam was first proposed by the Hunter Water Corporation in the 1970s, but was deferred indefinitely in the 1980s due to the success of user pays pricing.[2] On 13 November 2006, the NSW Government announced proposals for a A$300 million dam at Tillegra to supply water to the Lower Hunter Region and Central Coast. The justification for the dam was based primarily on climate change, with population growth in the Hunter Region also of some relatively minor concern.[3] The announcement was made without prior community consultation and there is no mention of the proposed dam in Hunter Water's Integrated Water Resource Plan of August 2006.[4] Nor is the proposal mentioned in the 2006 State Plan, which was released the next day.[5]
The No Tillegra Dam Group was formed to prevent the building of the dam. Opponents say the dam is grossly excessive for this need, will drown valuable agricultural land and greater water efficiency, demand management and recycling would eliminate the need for the dam.[6]
On 28 November 2010 the NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, announced the cancellation of the dam after the Planning Minister refused to approve it.[7] The refusal was based on both the potential for environmental damage and the lack of proper consideration of alternative water security measures.[8] The state government had already spent $100 million on the project.