10th June 2025
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has today launched a landmark report which reveals the deep cultural, social and economic toll of poor water management in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The Lifeblood of Inland NSW: The Socio-Economic and Cultural Importance of Healthy Rivers report paints a stark picture of life in communities along the Darling-Baaka and its tributaries, where failing river systems are pushing ecosystems to collapse and driving people from the land.
"The Darling-Baaka and its tributaries are more than rivers - they are the arteries of inland life," said Mel Gray, Water Campaigner at the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
"This report shows what many of us already know in our bones: when the rivers die, communities die with them. And right now, they're both in crisis."
The report features case studies from across the Northern Basin, highlighting the real human cost of water mismanagement: graziers forced to abandon parts of their properties, families watching their livelihoods dry up, and First Nations people denied their rights to water and connection to Country.
Nature Conservation Council NSW CEO Jacqui Mumford said the report strengthens the urgent case for implementing the recommendations of the NSW Connectivity Expert Panel, which call for the restoration of natural base flows and seasonal pulses through the river system.
"We can't continue with a system that puts upstream extraction and political convenience ahead of people, Country and ecological survival," Ms Mumford said.
"This report is a call to act before it's too late."
Key recommendations include:
- Fully implementing the NSW Connectivity Expert Panel's recommendations to restore environmental flows.
- Recognising and enshrining Indigenous water rights and cultural flows.
- Investing in a just regional transition, including regenerative land management and community resilience.
