Great Darling Anabranch water flowing again after five-year dry spell

The first pulse of water since 2017 down the Great Darling Anabranch will “put a heartbeat” back into the struggling environment of the lower Darling.

Locals in south west NSW were overjoyed today to see water flow down the Great Darling Anabranch for the first time since 2017.

Menindee local and keen fisherman Graeme McCrabb said it was “just unbelievable” to see water flow down the river after a long dry spell.

“It’s one of the few times I’ve seen water politics be a win-win for everyone,” he said.

The Anabranch, which splits from the Darling River at Menindee Lakes, is a crucial linkage between a key breeding site for golden perch in Lake Cawndilla and the Murray River.

Scientific reports show the ancient waterway flowed several times a decade before the regulation of the Darling river, filling billabongs and ephemeral lakes.

Wentworth Shire councillor Jane MacAllister said the Anabranch had been “ignored for far too long” and needed regular flows to sustain ecological communities on the brink of collapse.

“These pulses that will be sent down … are trying to put a heartbeat into a patient that is in a coma,” she said.

Picture: Graeme McCrabb

WaterNSW opened the gates into the Anabranch early today, starting a flow that will send 250 megalitres per day down the waterway, rising to 1000 megalitres per day within days.

WaterNSW executive manager, Adrian Langdon, said the flow, which will eventually incorporate environmental water held by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, will continue into summer, “optimising habitat conditions for native fish”.

“This efficient utilisation of the Menindee resource will bring tremendous benefit to the ecosystem of the Anabranch, as well as the landholders and communities along its route,” Mr Langdon said.

ANABRANCH FLOWS FOR FIRST TIME IN FIVE YEARSLocals in south west NSW were overjoyed today to see water flow down the Great Darling Anabranch for the first time since 2017. Full story: https://bit.ly/3lUquD5

Posted by The Weekly Times on Thursday, September 23, 2021

Today’s release is the first time the river received a prolonged flow since a 100-gigalitre flush in 2017 and a flow of 50GL in 2013.

WaterNSW in a statement said the release came as Menindee Lakes hit 109.3 per cent capacity, with more inflows expected.

Inflows to Menindee Lakes were projected to continue “well into October, even in the absence of follow up rain in the northern catchment”, the statement said.