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.

The empty Barwon River Gamilaraay and Yuwalaraay elders who have lived on these rivers all their lives cry when they say they have never seen it as bad as this, and they doubt it can ever be recovered.
What about us people?” Burke says.
The water crisis was made worse last week when the town bore pump failed and there was no running water at all.
“It’s a triple whammy: drought, land clearing and climate change – that means no water.” “When your totem animals are gone – the bandarr [kangaroo], the dhinawan [emu] who are you as a person?” Vanessa Hickey lives on the western side of town near the levee bank, and spent her life on the river.
Vanessa Hickey standing next to the empty Barwon River “When we got water, we’re happy.
We are river people.
As kids we used to dive for mussels and throw them back up the bank to cook and eat.” The river has a responsibility … It’s the bloodline of this country Rhonda Ashby “There were stories about the water dog, Marrayin, the mirri, going down all the way to Menindee.
We know who’s got the water – Cubbie.” “Where is our water?
Gamilaraay elder and cultural educator Brenda McBride standing in the empty Narran River north of Lightning Ridge “It’s so bad.
It makes me sad what’s happening, with irrigation and mismanagement of the water.

Fish facts: Silver perch.
Its closest relative is, however, Welch’s grunter (Bidyanus welchi), which was first encountered by Europeans in 1861 from Coopers Creek and is native to the drainages of Lake Eyre and the Barcoo, Diamantina and Georgina Rivers.
In contrast, silver perch were first described by Europeans in 1838 from the area between the Gwydir and McIntyre Rivers, where they were called bidyan by the Aboriginal people of the area, hence their scientific name.
This species has also been introduced into the Lake Eyre Basin as well as several impoundments and coastal river systems of south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales and south-western Western Australia as part of restocking efforts.
Adult silver perch are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of small prey including zooplankton, insect larvae, molluscs, crustaceans and worms as well as algae.
In many parts of their range the amount of algae in the diet tends to increase with fish size.
Most of the adult fish tend to move upstream in a short spawning run period between November to February, while immature fish may move upstream over a longer period between October to April.
Recent constructions of native fish friendly fishways on several weirs have improved this situation along the middle and lower reaches of the Murray River, but silver perch populations remain endangered in many other regions due to a myriad of factors including siltation that reduces spawning habitat and survival of silver perch eggs and larvae, diversion of eggs and larvae into irrigation water, cold water pollution from dams, and introduced diseases.
Female silver perch grow to a larger size than males, reaching a maximum size of around 45 cm and 7-8 kg.
Maximum age is at least 17 years for river fish and 27 years for fish in impoundments.