But, extreme conditions and fish kills are natural here in the “land of drought and flooding rains”, right?
Heatwaves and drought have always occurred here but unsustainable levels of water extraction and climate change are much more recent.
Bottled water is now being trucked to Walgett where the largest Murray cod on record was swimming during the Federation Drought.
Large irrigated farms and harvesting of flood waters have been implicated in increasing water stress.
Cubbie Station doesn’t pump water from rivers that flow through Walgett, nor has it reported harvesting water since April 2017.
The floodwaters harvested in recent years by irrigators could have been saved through water storage and wetlands to maintain dry-land agriculture and ecosystems during the current heatwave.
Minimum environmental flow standards have either not been in place or have been insufficient to sustain dry-land rivers.
Agriculture and water policies must be sufficiently robust to keep rivers flowing and communities supplied with clean water despite extreme conditions.
Instead, funding for communities must be targeted at helping farmers adapt and growing industries that will be viable during water scarcity, climate change and extreme conditions.
This does not have to be the dirge of the Darling, regional communities or farming.