Such an outcome"could have huge environmental benefits for the Lachlan,Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers",Rich Gilmore,country manager for The Nature Conservancy,said.
The purchase of The Great Cumbung Swamp will create a conservation area,including the neighbouring Yanga National Park,of about 200,000 hectares.Credit:Peter Stephen
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The properties'"relatively intact"ecosystems will complement those of the adjoining Yanga National Park,bringing about 200,000 hectares under protection in the region between the towns of Hay and Balranald,Mr Gilmore said.
The Great Cumbung is home to the largest reed swamps in the Murray-Darling Basin and provides important habitat for the nationally threatened Australasian bittern and the Australian painted snipe,said James Fitzsimons,director of conservation at The Nature Conservancy.
Nimmie-Caira offers an important breeding site for ibis,spoonbills and other bird species in the basin's largest lignum wetlands,while the Yanga is home of one of NSW's largest stands of river red gums,he said.
The swamp land was at risk of being converted to irrigated cotton or rice farms.Credit:Tim Roberts-Thomson
Another fish kill
The health of the rivers has been in the national spotlight since a massive fish kill at Menindee on the lower Darling this month killed as many as 1 million fish.
On Tuesday,the NSW DPI said its staff were looking into reports of a fish kill at Lake Inverell,on the Macintyre River.
"Thousands of fish,mainly juveniles between 2cm and 10cm in length were found washed up on the banks of the lake yesterday,with some larger fish also recorded further upstream in the lake,"the department said in a statement.
Species included golden perch,Murray cod,eel tailed catfish,carp,gudgeon and freshwater shrimp,it said,adding the die-off looks like being caused by low dissolved oxygen in the lake.
The water was also visibly stagnant and a high algae content was observed with a dark green colouration.
Independent studies
David Littleproud,the federal Water Minister,on Tuesday appointed Rob Vertessy - a former head of the Bureau of Meteorology and a member of an advisory committee for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority - to lead an independent study into the causes of the fish kill. It will report back by February 20.
“The vision we saw of dead fish floating in the river was upsetting for all,” Mr Littleproud said. “We always need to be growing and learning,so we can make sure we manage the risk of these events as well as we can in the future."
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Tony Burke,Labor's water spokesman,welcomed the government's move,coming days after the Opposition secured agreement from the Australian Academy of Science to investigate the ecological catastrophe and provide recommendations on improving basin management by February 10.
The government"had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point",Mr Burke said.
Still,to have"two independent studies can only be good for informing decision-making for the Murray-Darling Basin",he said.