Fish kill report: Calls to reserve more water in Menindee for Lower Darling

AN INDEPENDENT report into the Lower Darling River’s fish kills has called for a drought reserve to be held back in the Menindee Lakes, which would drastically curb efforts to save up to 106 gigalitres in evaporation and seepage losses.

AN INDEPENDENT report into the Lower Darling River’s fish kills has called for a drought reserve to be held back in the Menindee Lakes, which would drastically curb efforts to save up to 106 gigalitres in evaporation and seepage losses.

Professor Rob Vertessy’s report recommended “NSW and the Australian government should re-evaluate the Menindee Lakes Water Saving Project to place a greater emphasis on improving water security and environmental outcomes in the lower Darling”.

“Should the revised project contribute less to the agreed Sustainable Diversion Limits (water savings), the NSW government would need to commit to addressing the shortfall.”

In January The Weekly Times reported any reduction in the 106GL water savings from reconfiguring the lakes would have to be made up by taking more water from other irrigation zones — southern NSW and northern Victoria.

Under the current plan the NSW Government proposes reconfiguring Menindee’s four lakes, so that just two are used for storage, saving up to 106 gigalitres and retaining a drought reserve of just 80GL.

In February the Academy of Sciences released a report, commissioned by the Labor Party, into the December 2018 and January 2019 fish kills that recommended 400GL be retained in the lakes to maintain Lower Darling environmental flows.