Retired Riverina irrigator Ron Pike, who unsuccessfully contested the most recent state and federal elections, said Griffith Business Chamber’s plan to quadruple Burrinjuck Dam was “totally irresponsible” and would have “negative results for the people of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area”.

“I am furious that a few people could put in jeopardy all of the great research and planning work that has been done by people dedicated to managing our water resources,” Mr Pike said.

“This very flawed plan is a mystery and totally irresponsible, those pushing it are not acting in the interests of their community.”

Mr Pike claimed in the past 50 years there had only been three occasions of where water had flowed over Burrinjuck Dam’s spillway. If the proposed dam expansion had been built in 1970, he said, it would never have filled. Only in 1974 would it have filled just past 50 per cent.

The idea of increasing Burrinjuck Dam’s capacity to more than 4000GL was floated at a NSW Upper House hearing on water last Wednesday. The hearing was told the extra storage would not only drought-proof the region, it would also provide crucial “airspace” in times of flooding.

During last year’s floods, farmers accused authorities of drowning their land by not “properly preparing” for predicted rain.

Former Wagga deputy mayor Michael Georgiou, a major airspace proponent, said a bigger dam would be a good idea.

“There would be plenty of water for irrigators and you would keep airspace in the dam so we would not have the floods we’ve been having,” he said.

“I think it could have reduced flooding (last year) for a lot of farmers downstream.”

Wagga Greens member Kevin Poynter was sceptical about proposing to build dams without investigating the impacts.

“We need to learn how to manage water, every time we interfere in the river system it creates a problem for us to fix,” Mr Poynter said.

“There need to be the proper studies to understand the consequences of what we propose do and then put in place measures to address those consequences.

“I’m not against dams per se, but I’m against doing it without thought about what other problems might arise.”