Water misuse ‘behind fish deaths’
AN environmental group claims a river in far western NSW where up to a million fish have died was in trouble before the drought because of water mismanagement.
The mass fish death in the Darling River system at Menindee region has sparked an investigation by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and WaterNSW.
Golden perch, Murray cod and bony herring are among the species affected.
The DPI said ongoing dry conditions and a recent big drop in temperature could have caused the large fish kill, but environmental group Inland Rivers Network says water mismanagement impac- ted the health of the river before the drought. The group says the amount of water diverted for irrigation means the Darling River isn’t receiving the flows it should be getting.
“The drought is an extreme drought but because any flows that might have got into the Darling River are being used somewhere else, it has exacerbated the problem,” president Bev Smiles said. NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair is “not happy” about the situation but says he doesn’t have control of Menindee Lakes when they contain more than 480 gigalitres of water as the flow is shared with other states.
“We want to reconfigure those lakes through engineering solutions, and also talk to Canberra about the rules so we don’t keep pulling the plug and then not turning the tap on, so that we can have better outcomes,” he told 2GB radio.
Independent MP Jeremy Buckingham warned the Darling River and the fish that live in it would die if water management of the Murray Darling Basin wasn’t overhauled.