I am 99 per cent sure that the Dunoon Dam will never be built. I made this prediction to a Ballina Councillor when it was obvious that Ballina would elect both councillors who were pro-dam to Rous County Council (RCC), the body responsible for water security and flood mitigation. Two pro-dammers already had seats for each of Richmond Valley and Lismore Councils.
But, importantly, I predicted that before the dam proposal is again defeated, there will be a massive waste of time, money, angst, fear and community division on the way given the premature convictions of the majority of RCC’s 2022 Councillors.
No, I’m not a seer. Evidence against the dam from the data, when serious investigation began in 1995 until 2022, is conclusive.
Thumbs down from the 2013 expert environment and cultural heritage investigations the EIA (environmental impact assessment) and the CHIA (Cultural/Heritage impact assessment).
Thumbs down that the dam could deliver water security in times of climate change; particularly being built below an existing dam.
Modern studies by NSW Department of Water Policy, reject dependence on rainfall and a single source of potable water.
Sensationalist, misleading, advertising and petitions prior to the recent LGA elections show that pro-dam Council candidates were just not prepared to be accurate about water security, and seemingly lacked scientific understanding.
So I smiled, grimly, when one newly minted Lismore Councillor, on his very first day at his first Council meeting, launched straight into a motion against handing back some land to its traditional owners. He came a cropper. He just didn’t investigate properly what had gone before. Expect more such from RCC for some time because there is just so much for those dam councillors to unlearn.
Here is my challenge to RCC. Prove me wrong.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
