Inland waterways

This year’s projected opening allocation for South Australian River Murray water users has reinforced the importance of a healthy and flowing Basin – and ensuring parties representing River communities put local interests ahead of upstream states.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) own analysis shows further water buybacks are unlikely to deliver significant improvements in environmental objectives across the Basin and zero improvements in any Victorian river systems including the Victorian Murray.

There's been spirited debate and productive discussion about the Murray–Darling Basin Plan Review (the Review) at the 2026 Basin Leadership Summit. Nearly 200 senior leaders from across communities, agriculture and tourism industries, environmental groups, First Nations, government and science converged in Brisbane over two days to discuss the future management of the Murray–Darling Basin.

The Murray River Group of Councils (MRGC) met in Melbourne last week for a dedicated strategic forum to discuss and shape its initial response to the 2026 Basin Plan Review. Mayors and CEOs from the MRGC … received a comprehensive briefing from Murray–Darling Basin Authority CEO Andrew McConville and senior executives on the MDBA’s recently released Basin Plan Review Discussion Paper.

The Victorian Minister for Planning, the Hon. Sonya Kilkenny MP, has decided that an environmental effect statement is required for the Fingerboards Critical Minerals Project and given reasons for her decision. Gippsland Critical Minerals Pty Ltd, the proponent of the Fingerboards Project, has responded to the decision. The community action group, Mine Free Glenaladale, has responded to the decision and GCM's statement.

Member for Murray Helen Dalton said 25 dead Murray Cod were left stranded in a remnant pool barely 60 metres long in Bullatale Creek. "Some were close to a metre in length - fish that would have taken decades to grow now gone," she said ... "So here is the question. What exactly is that two billion dollars a year being spent on?

Barkindji representatives travelled to the United Kingdom to share the Menindee fish kills film with international audiences and connect with cultural items. In the summer of 2018-2019, a million dead fish floated to the surface of the Baaka (Darling River) near the town of Menindee. The shocking sight was the result of a mass fish kill.

Tweed Shire Council will soon open applications for the next round of its Profitable Regenerative Farming Mentoring Program, with local farmers invited to learn more at an information session on 26 February. The peer-to-peer program pairs experienced regenerative farmers with emerging landholders to strengthen farm profitability while improving soil health, waterways  and biodiversity. 

There’s a piece of industrial archaeology sitting in the river bend just north of where Hay’s bridge crosses the Murrumbidgee. It looks like debris, like something that should have been cleared away decades ago. But that rusting turntable is actually a remnant of an era when the river was a highway, when paddle steamers were the primary means of moving wool and supplies, and when a bridge had to accommodate both road traffic and river commerce.

The latest floods have again shown that the ‘data’ used by the bureaucrats in Brisbane for all things water is farcical, or terribly inaccurate at best, The Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader, and Member for Traeger has said ... “The Department simply have no idea how much water there is! They’re the same Department who openly say there isn’t enough water to release to farmers.”

Kaali King. Few of us know that tin is one of the fastest growing rare-earth mineral commodities in 2025, outstripping lithium, cobalt, silver and graphite. Demand for electronics and EVs, all of which use tin solder (48 per cent of the global tin market) is fuelling the boom.

On Thursday 15 January 2026, the Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt, announced the Federal Government's decision to list the Lower Murray River System as being of Critically Endangered conservation status pursuant to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). Minister Watt's statement together with early statements from National Farmers' Federation and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW demonstrate some of the points of difference over this contentious decision.

In September this year, Steve Posselt and Graeme Gibson set off from Ballina in a tinnie to travel upstream towards Kyogle ... The Tinnie Trip was part of the Riverfest and its aim was to highlight the state of the Richmond River.

OzFish, Australia’s only fish habitat restoration charity, is set to launch the nation’s first dedicated River Repair Boat at a special public event at Faulks Reserve Boat Ramp, Ballina, at 3 pm on Friday, 5 December 2025.

Death didn't ride in on a pale horse in the dead of night; he stood at a pulpit in Adelaide and proudly announced to his fanatical legions of followers the further destruction of rural Australian communities and the rivers they rely on ... In announcing the purchase of a further 130GL from the Southern Basin, Watt, along with his predecessors, has missed the obvious fact that this water cannot be delivered down to the Lower Murray.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has welcomed new research that combines Indigenous knowledge and ecological science to protect and restore the Darling (Baaka) River. The study, led by the Wilcannia Barkandji community, highlights the enduring Cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance of Barkandji stone fish traps along the Baaka near Wilcannia.

Unique wetlands in Victoria's Wimmera are getting a helping hand thanks to the local community. Conservation organisation Trust for Nature, supported by the Wimmera Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and the Victorian Government, is working with landholders to protect and manage wetlands on their properties.

Hugh Schuitemaker. Significant infrastructure upgrades at Renmark's Bookmark Creek – allowing for improved natural water flows, better conditions for native fish and other species, and greater recreational opportunities – have been completed.

Adam Kerezsy ... the inland rivers of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin are already well-inhabited by invasive – or alien – species ... Unfortunately, in the Lachlan, there’s a new kid on the block. Oriental weatherloach is an eel-like animal from Asia that started off in Australia as an aquarium fish.

Baaka, our new Cultural and Art Centre, looks wonderful! All of us who've been on guided tours inside it are excited about what it will mean for Paakantji people, the town of Wilcannia and our whole region.

A report released in partnership with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, Commonwealth environmental water sustaining Murray–Darling Basin ecosystems: 10-year (2014–24) retrospective, outlines how a decade of monitoring, evaluation and reporting is optimising management of Commonwealth environmental water holdings – a public asset with a market value approaching $10 billion.

A fin-tastic new project is set to bring more fish swimming into Sunshine Coast rivers ... Two new fishways will be installed on Petrie Creek, providing vital passage for a variety of native fish.