A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, but would it mean the same thing? This is the thought I was left with when the MDBA announced the “Opening trade balance set for Barmah Narrows”. Notice the subtle change in language? The “Barmah Choke”, which is a natural constriction to water flow within the river channel, has formed part of the operating rules that irrigators had to abide by for longer than some of us have been alive. These natural constraints have been a bugbear for the MDBA, as they don’t allow the massive flows through to achieve the South Australian border flow targets. Flow targets written by the political class into the Basin Plan.

I reached out to the MDBA and asked why the renaming.

“The MDBA has been referring to this part of the River Murray as The Narrows for many years.” stated an MDBA spokesperson.

“The Narrows appropriately represents the significant natural features, and the positive environmental and cultural values, of this stretch of the River Murray.”

Ignoring the fact that the response uses the South Australian term “River Murray” rather than the “Murray River”, this is the first time the “Barmah Narrows” has appeared in a seasonal trade announcement. Rules based on the Barmah Choke!

Opponents of having the MDBA as the Ministry of Truth on all things water have previously pointed out that the authority has, in the past, combined the various choke flows, which may give the impression that higher flow volumes through the restrictions would be possible. While plans for “constraints relaxation” have been high on the authority’s list, ecological concerns and third-party impacts have, to date, kept them at bay.

Last week’s rushed and somewhat secretive inundation legislation by the NSW Government allows river operators to exceed river channel capacities. With no consultation, the State Government changed legislation to allow the flooding out of landholders with no compensation, while at the same time, the operating announcement for the choke changes by definition, from a restriction to flow, to a narrow part or passage.

Member for Murray Helen Dalton and incoming Member for Farrer David Farley held a joint press conference to rally against the NSW legislation change.

“This Bill turns private property into a plaything for the Government,” Dalton said.

“Your private land might have been in your family for generations. You might have slaved away your whole life to afford to own your land, but now, with this Bill, your private land will not be private anymore.”

“It will become land that the Government can control and destroy whenever it wants to.”

If our language, heritage, and the meanings of words such as Barmah Choke and MURRAY River mean so little, maybe we could all have a go at renaming things in the basin? The South Australian Lake Albert could be renamed Bottom Water as a nod to its pre-SA drainage scheme groundwater recharging. Or Lake Alexandrina could be renamed Brackish, due to its pre-barrage estuarine nature. The Coorong could be termed, Tall Story, due to the scientific fact, based on diatom research, that it wasn’t historically fed by the Murray River.

I guess a boy can dream.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 21 May 2026.