building a dam comes at too high a cost to the environment around it. dams destroy native habitats. how about not having what is an unsustainable and increasing human population. we are nearing the point where humans will not be able to just keep breeding. this planet can only successfully sustain a certain number of creatures. Do we need to destroy most other creatures on the planet just so we can increase our population and our land share? Try catching the water that runs off your roof before it goes down the drain. What you catch is what you can use. So, no. i do not accept building a dam here or anywhere, for whatever reason.

Your right about that Richard, Ncle and Hunter residents should not have to pay for this dam. Most of our rain falls in the tropics on flat level ground. But their must be some other place to site this dam. How about the Jamison Valley.

We are told there is a distance beyond which piping water becomes uneconomic. It unfortunately is not very economic after a few hundred kilometres. (Unless it is for Sydney or Melbourne of course!) How the heck did the Perth-Kalgoorlie pipeline get up? 400 miles in the old money. Cost? Who knows. Better to not waste what falls on the coast and urban areas. But hang on. If you start to collect your own water then no profit for government, and worse, all those people employed by the water utilities (note how there is only one per city) would be out of a nice, permanent job. (Well at least the real workers that actually keep the pipes working would still have one. People who actually do things are still needed). Cannot have that can we! Water collection and use requires a big, modern re-think. Not happening in the Hunter though.

Where is the 'Old' Peter Garrett - the one that used to protest at the Franklin River to save it from Damming - but is happy to sit back and see one of the most pristine rivers in NSW - the last one we have left in the Hunter - be dammed/damned without even giving an opinion. He has the power now to stop this farce - but chooses to remain silent. All Labour - state and federal - will carry this shame now.

What planet are you on? The Williams river is so far from pristine its not funny! As dams go, this is one of the least environmentally damaging proposals. Constructed on cleared agricultural land in a natural valley and in an area that has been pillaged by European farming practices for over 100 years (the picture with the article is an 'artists impression' with trees added). The reason other regions are not building dams is because they don’t have the rainfall to fill them. The Hunter is lucky enough to still have this option. If you want rainfall tanks, you better get ready for massive increases in water prices to pay for it. Welcome to the world of full-cost recovery... What do you expect Hunter Water to do? Propose a non-cost effective option (tanks) or simply do nothing until there is a water shortage? You have to plan these investments decades in advance of population growth. Have a look at the state plan and see where forecast growth is.

evaporation is a problem