The NSW government has been accused of not following due process when it passed legislation to allow flooding in the heritage-listed Blue Mountains.
The Greater Blue Mountains Area is already recognised globally for its environmental significance but now some sections are being assessed by the federal government for inclusion on the National Heritage List for Aboriginal cultural values.
A UNESCO advisory body has warned NSW legislation passed in 2018 as part of the coalition's plan to raise Warragamba Dam wall by 14 metres could endanger the area's cultural values.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites wrote to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in February 2019 arguing the legislation shouldn't have been proposed before the Commonwealth's cultural values assessment was finalised.
"It is inappropriate ... for the NSW parliament to be enabling legislation that would impact upon established world or national heritage values or potential national heritage values," the letter, seen by AAP, states.
ICOMOS Australia president Ian Travers says it would be unacceptable for the Blue Mountains to be flooded before the presumed cultural values of the area were fully known.
"If the areas being assessed are inundated in the interim, it's not acceptable," he told AAP.
"The correct process hasn't been followed. They're enabling legislation which is directly contrary to what should be happening."
Thousands of cultural sites were flooded when Warragamba Dam was built in the 1960s with Aboriginal elders concerned the plan to raise the wall will destroy those that are left.
"Traditional owners feel very strongly that their cultural heritage, that's already been decimated, is about to eradicated," Mr Travers said.
Gundungurra elder Sharyn Halls urged the heritage centre to investigate the threat to thousands of cultural areas including burial sites, waterholes and artefacts.
The raising of the wall will be "disastrous" for local indigenous people, she said.
ICOMOS claims the proposal could flood up to 1000 hectares of world heritage area and 3700 hectares of surrounding national park.
The group's letter urges the WHC to consider assessing the conservation of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and to put it on the agenda at its 2019 meeting in Azerbaijan.
ICOMOS cautioned the federal and NSW governments in October that the plan could result in the Blue Mountains being placed on a list of sites "in danger".
The NSW government argues the wall needs to be raised to reduce the risk of flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.
An Infrastructure NSW spokeswoman told AAP on Friday that if the plan isn't eventually approved the legislation passed by state government will have no effect.
An Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment is underway and will be included in the environmental impact statement, the spokeswoman said.
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