Professor Fran Sheldon, from Griffith University’s Australian Rivers Institute, said only one surviving colony of river mussels had been found along the river and there were signs that river red gums were under severe stress.
“If the river red gums die, and some are hundreds of years old, there will be a domino effect. Banks will collapse, there will be massive erosion and it will send sediments down the river.”
The NSW agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, said the unprecedented action would provide “a lifeline for key native species ahead of an expected summer of horror fish kills”.
“We’re staring down the barrel of a potential fish Armageddon, which is why we’re wasting little time rolling out this unprecedented action,” Marshall said.
“By starting this operation today we’re getting on the front foot while we still have the chance to rescue and relocate as many fish as possible.”
Several scientific reports said the lack of flow in the river due to the drought and exacerbated by irrigation upstream were to blame. When temperatures soared to over 40C and were followed by a cool change, the water in the pools stratified, leading to deoxygenation of the deeper water, killing fish.
But there are already doubts about how effective the $10m program will be.
The unprecedented operation aims to move as many fish as possible from 15 to 20 priority waterholes in a two-week period, including Murray cod, some of which are at least 25 years old, golden perch and other rare species.
Boats with electrostatic fishing equipment will be used to stun the fish in weir pools and waterholes along the Darling at Menindee, where they will scooped up and loaded into special climate-controlled transport to a section of the Darling further south, near Wentworth, where the river joins the Murray, which is still flowing.
Department of Primary Industries fisheries scientists are targeting fish contained within drying pools that are not expected to last through the summer.
“By moving these fish, such as Murray cod and golden perch, we’re providing the best possible chance of survival,” Marshall said.
But the government has not said how many fish it will move. One source told the Guardian it was hoped it would be in the hundreds. This is just a fraction of the population of the river and will not prevent the likelihood of further mass fish deaths during the coming summer.
“It’s a photo-op rather than a real deal,” said a Menindee local, Graeme McCrabb, who has become a spokesman for the local community on the lower Darling.
“There would be 10,000 cod between Weir 32 [at Menindee] and the Murray,” he said. “And silver perch, listed as a vulnerable species, are difficult to catch with electro fishing.”
“If Lake Wetherill goes, there will be even more fish die than last year,” McCrabb warned.
The commission has called for an urgent revision of the rules that allow irrigators to continue to extract from the river when flows are very low. It wants the threshold when irrigators must cease to take water from the river to be raised, along with other rule changes.
“It’s a contentious issue. We just raised the question: have [the extraction rules] influenced the conditions that have led to the catastrophic drying of the Barwon-Darling?”
“If the answer is that extractions did contribute, then the answer is straightforward: we need to change the rules.
“If they didn’t, then the answer is a whole lot more complex. We need to understand what is really going on.”
“The fish rescue program will preserve some genetic diversity, but the government also needs to monitor the surrounding ecosystems, as [returning] fish would not survive if mussels and other invertebrates are lost,” she said.
The government said the fish would be able to migrate back up the 500km of the Darling when the drought ended.
“When flows do return to normal, the fish will be able to migrate to their ‘homes’ back upstream, without the need for additional intervention,” Marshall said.
• On 10 September 2019 this article was amended. A previous version said water in pools “striated” when “stratified” was meant.
Farmers are facing ruin across New South Wales and Queensland in what some are calling the worst drought in living memory, with costs of stock feed and transport spiralling.
[...]
Large swathes of eastern Australia have been in drought for periods ranging from a year to seven years, with the record dry conditions prompting calls for further federal and state measures.
Some 200 trucksConvoy at parliament to protest Basin Plan
"'Drought, climate change and mismanagement': What experts think caused the death of a million Menindee fish "Then again, why some rivers should run relatively free ..""
National
Protesters wanting the Murray-Darling Basin Plan fixed or scrapped will encircle Parliament House.
Farmers are descending on Parliament House in Canberra to demand the Murray-Darling Basin Plan be scrapped.
The man responsible for implementing the plan acknowledges it is causing significant economic pain to some farmers around the basin.
But Phillip Glyde has described the impact as "immediate pain for long term gain".
Protesters say the plan has devastated regional communities, leaving them without schools, doctors and sporting teams.
The Convoy to Canberra group said there was water available but government policies were denying farmers access.
Mr Glyde said the plan would mean some farmers would have to leave their land but the industry as a whole would survive.
"I think the broader Australian community is unaware of the sacrifices that the farm community, the irrigators and agriculture community, is going through," he told ABC radio.
But Mr Glyde also pointed out it was the states that were responsible for allocating water.
Monday's protesters want the basin plan fixed or scrapped, more dam infrastructure and other measures like carp control to help improve conditions in the Murray-Darling.
Their convoy comes as the government progresses plans to provide subsidised water to farmers to grow fodder for livestock.
Federal Water Minister David Littleproud said on Sunday the first 40 gigalitres would be available for farmers from December 9.
Mr Littleproud also pointed out there was water sitting idle across the basin, calling on states to make sure farmers were using every drop they could.
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