PHOTO: The final report Connectivity Expert Panel has drawn debate over proposed rules on flow targets and floodplain harvesting. IMAGE: NSW Government
Restrictions on flood plain harvesting, minimum flow rules and dam releases are needed to preserve water flows in the Barwon-Darling.
Those are some of the suggestions in a final report released by a Connectivity Expert Panel to maintain water flows in the Barwon-Darling River system.
The Connectivity Expert Panel, chaired by Amy Dula from the Natural Resources Commission, was convened in August 2023 by Minister for Water Rose Jackson.
The panel was given a broad terms of reference to provide advice on topics including water sharing plans, flood plain harvesting and triggers for dry time rules in the Barwon-Darling, which flows down from Mungindi in Queensland through Western Plains towns Collarenebri, Walgett, Brewarrina and Bourke before heading south-west to the Menindee Lakes.
It is used for town and stock water supplies as well as irrigation, and hosts native fish including Murray cod and golden perch…