Barnaby Joyce abolishes body set up to advise on major water projects after dam announcements

The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has dissolved the national advisory body established less than two years ago to scrutinise major water projects.

Members of the expert advisory body were told Wednesday morning that the panel would now be disbanded.

Guardian Australia has obtained letters sent by Khan, a University of NSW water engineering expert appointed to the body, to other members of the expert panel.

In those letters, Khan outlines concerns about government commitments to fund several dam projects. These include the proposed Dungowan Dam and the Wyangala Dam wall raising in NSW, and the Urannah Dam in Queensland.

Joyce announced a $500m federal contribution for Urannah earlier this month. The proponent for the Uranah project last week said it had recently completed a detailed business case, although the Guardian understands it had not been seen by the advisory board.

After the announcement, Khan wrote to the advisory body to outline concerns that they had not been consulted or sent a business case.

Guardian Australia has previously reported that Dungowan has no business case or environmental approval, and has already doubled in cost; the Wyangala dam wall raising have also been hit by a massive cost blowout.

In a letter from August last year, Khan said he had concerns regarding the planning for the NSW projects; he said the advisory body should oppose any additional federal government contributions to cover cost increases for Dungowan or Wyangala, until business cases could be properly scrutinised.