The wall was last raised in the year 2000 and that project has been considered an unqualified success. The wall was raised five metres to almost double the capacity from 16 million litres to just over 30 million litres, creating one of the more secure water supplies in the state.

That increased capacity is a major reason why Bathurst residents have never had to endure water restrictions, even during the worst of the drought around 2005 when our neighbours in Orange were on extreme Level 5 restrictions.

The project also ensured the council at the time – led by former mayor Ian Macintosh – gained a reputation as one of the best and most progressive councils this area has seen.

So it may be unsurprising that the current council is looking at raising the wall again to further increase the capacity of the dam, but such a project should be approached with caution.

Council’s own records show that the dam has been at capacity for around three years in the 14 years that have passed since 2000.

And, raising the dam wall achieves nothing if the water level sits below the current capacity, so there would be many years to come where the money spent on the project has effectively been wasted.

A higher dam wall would also likely mean even fewer releases to keep the Macquarie River at a reasonable flow, a prospect sure to anger local environmentalists.

So raising the dam wall is not all upside – there are genuine negatives that must be fully explored before a final decision is made.

The last thing we want is to see one of the city’s great engineering success stories turned into one of its great white elephants.