Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in the Darling River at Menindee,the second such event in three weeks,in what Niall Blair,the fisheries minister,described as"an environmental catastrophe".
A resident said dead fish can be seen along at least a kilometre of the lower Darling River.
On our national day,let's ask ourselves:Why does a country so blessed by nature treat her so badly?
Mayors from western NSW townships along the embattled Barwon-Darling river system who converged on Sydney to discuss the water crisis have criticised the water minister for failing to attend or telephone into the meeting.
Some of the plan's most outspoken critics have been selected for an independent probe,called by the federal opposition,into the recent fish kills
One of the most important wetlands in the Riverina has been saved from potential conversion into cotton or rice farms in what's being claimed as the largest purchase of private land for conservation in Australia's history.
Water bird numbers at Menindee Lakes,near the site of this year's massive fish kill,are in long-term decline as regulation of lake levels deviates from natural cycles,according to leading ecologist Richard Kingsford.
Leading Australian scientists will conduct a study into causes of the huge fish kill on the Darling River and the wider issue of water mismanagment after accepting a request from Labor leader,Bill Shorten.
It's been a long time coming,but there's a growing recognition of the cultural significance Aboriginal groups place on the Barka - and the need for water rights to go with it.
This week,the only sign of vegetation on the 40-square kilometres of irrigable land at the Darling Farms outside Bourke was the odd weed.
More dead fish are turning up in the Darling River at Menindee,about 10 days after a mass die-off in the far-western NSW region killed off as many as 1 million fish.