Reconnect Our Rivers
The mighty Darling/Baaka River has lost its heartbeat — the small, regular pulses of water the river needs in between floods.
Farming and irrigation are taking too much water away from the tributary rivers that feed the Darling/Baaka. This is resulting in mass fish kills, turtles left to die and birds fleeing. And, freshwater mussels have disappeared completely from the Baaka.
The good news is that the NSW Government released a report that contains the blueprint for saving the Darling/Baaka River — now we need them to implement it.
We call on the NSW Government to:
- Implement the full recommendations of the final report from the Connectivity Expert Panel
- Significantly improve the rules for irrigating from unregulated rivers and for floodplain harvesting diversions as recommended in the report.
- Establish a work program within the Department to improve how rivers connect to floodplains and groundwater aquifers.
The time for talk and promises is over, urgent action is needed now to save the iconic Darling/Baaka river.