Water

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.

A feasibility study in 2014 looked at the cost of bringing a sewerage system to three of Kyogle’s villages — Tabulam, Wiangaree and Mallanganee. The Three Villages Water/Sewer Update report is back on the Kyogle Council agenda ... Mayor Danielle Mulholland said, “We’ve been talking about this for a long time.”

VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said the lack of acknowledgment demonstrates a clear failure to strike an appropriate balance ... VFF analysis found ... an enormous imbalance in the individual mentions of the below terms: Environment: 434 mentions; First Nations: 152 mentions; Community: 34 mentions; Agriculture: 11 mentions; Food: 7 mentions; Landholder: 5 mentions; Farmer: 3 mentions; Employment: 1 mention; Food security: 0 mentions; Manufacturing: 0 mentions

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. 

Toowoomba Regional Council has acquired a property in Westbrook that will be the location of a future water treatment plant ... With the site being acquired for a water treatment plant, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff said Council would require funding to progress the project in an accelerated timeframe.

Regional local government councils including Narrandera came together again for the eighth annual Cootamundra Mayoral Summit hosted by the Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke this week. Ms Cooke said it was clear that health, water security and safer roads remained top priorities right across the electorate

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and joint River Murray governments have initiated a detailed review of the Menindee Lakes System to address long running operational and water management challenges.

A wildfire burning over five days would do more damage to vegetation and biodiversity in the northern jarrah forest than five decades of climate change has done ..."This forest has survived for some four to five million years. I am confident it can survive for a few decades longer. We humans must recognise that the ecosystem is never static, and be able to live with and accept some level of change": Frank Batini, professional forester and environmental consultant.

NSW Farmers says a vote supporting a Royal Commission into water management is a positive step towards a stronger farming future ... “We’ve been sounding the alarm on water management for a number of years, it’s beyond time that farmers and communities were treated as equal partners with the environment,” Mr Bootle said.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has released a Discussion Paper to support public consultation on the Basin Plan Review. In accordance with the Water Act 2007, the Authority is required to review the Basin Plan before the end of 2026 ... “Through the Discussion Paper the Authority has explored progress that has been made to date and considered some of the issues and challenges for the Basin as we look forward over the next decade”: MDBA Chief Executive Andrew McConville.

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.”

Nanarup has been chosen as the site for the proposed small scale seawater desalination plant, a vital project that will secure the Lower Great Southern region's water future and support its continued growth. Planning for a new, climate-resilient water source began in 2009, with seven potential locations identified between Walpole in the west and areas 50 kilometres east of Albany.

Australia's largest water reform, the Murray Darling Basin Plan, was sold to communities as a balanced, adaptable plan, with a triple bottom line of communities, agriculture, and the environment, and supposedly based on the best available science. Unfortunately, nothing appeared further from the truth.

Michelle Daw. Environment Minister Lucy Hood has called a hastily arranged community forum at Corny Point this week, following growing criticism of the state government's handling of the harmful algal bloom affecting southern Yorke Peninsula ... Public frustration escalated over the weekend following reported comments by Premier Peter Malinauskas, who stated the algal bloom was "non-existent in most of the state" — remarks that have drawn strong backlash from affected coastal communities.

The Murray-Darling Association 2025 National Conference saw its new Strategic Plan unveiled, building on the direction of Vision 2025. Narrandera Shire Council was represented by Cr Jenny Clarke, who presented a report to the Council recently.

Rosalie Auricht. A lot can happen in a very short time in the water space, and 2026 is shaping up to be a big year in water policy within the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) ... Federal water recovery from intensive irrigation networks across the Basin can so easily rip the heart out of the social and economic fabric of those communities. The underfunded Federal Sustainable Communities Program, now opened in SA, is designed to diversify economies as they transition away from irrigation. The program provides no comfort to irrigators in intensive irrigation network areas like the Riverland.

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.

The Menindee Lakes system is often described as the beating heart of the Darling-Baaka river system, but in the halls of Canberra and Sydney, it is also a vital "battery" for the Murray-Darling Basin. As we move into 2026, the lakes find themselves at the centre of a major policy shift - the "rescoping" of a controversial water-saving project that has pitted engineering efficiency against cultural survival.

The Northern Territory Government takes a holistic, evidence-based approach to sustainably managing water in the Territory. The Cambrian Limestone Aquifer (CLA) is vast and plentiful and contributes to water resources across a large area of the Territory.

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.

A major operation is underway in the Upper Murray and Tallangatta Valley to complete a 300km containment line to bring the Walwa-River Road fire under control … the blaze was started by a lightning strike in the Mt Lawson National Park 25kms west of Walwa on January 5th and has now burnt more than 105,000 hectares and the perimeter stretched around 420kms. To date, there have been nine confirmed house losses, 53 structures (sheds) destroyed and an estimated 10,000 hectares of HVP pine plantation and communication infrastructure at Mt Lawson have been burnt.

“I was in a grazier’s chopper being shown around, and he made the clear observation that like the surviving cattle, wild pigs are corralling on the islands that have formed in the inland sea that is the flood water. While the flood water presents many challenges, one opportunity would be for real and effective management of the feral pig numbers throughout the Gulf,” the KAP Leader said.