Tolarno Station and the Darling River
Tolarno Station sits on the banks of the Darling River. The river has always been the lifeblood of the property - providing not only a vital source of water for our community and animals, but also as a valuable trade route.
In the 1860s to the turn of the century, the Darling River was a hive of activity, with paddle steamers plying its path. Tolarno wool was washed in the river, before being put on the boat and taken down the river and onto boats to England, and the return journey saw Tolarno welcome supplies and new faces.
From 1900 onwards, the river has remained an important trade route, as well as providing water for our stock.
In the 1860s to the turn of the century, the Darling River was a hive of activity, with paddle steamers plying its path. Tolarno wool was washed in the river, before being put on the boat and taken down the river and onto boats to England, and the return journey saw Tolarno welcome supplies and new faces.
From 1900 onwards, the river has remained an important trade route, as well as providing water for our stock.
The Murray-Darling Basin
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The Murray-Darling and major tributaries run over 9,000km, and is the 15th longest river in the world. The Basin covers over 1 million square km, equating to 14% of Australia's land.
The rivers run through a diverse land, from subtropical rainforests, snowfields, and semi-arid floodplains, to the Coorong and the Southern Ocean. The Basin is home to over 2 million people, 51,000 farms, 40 Aboriginal nations, and over 140 species of native fish and waterbirds. During the drought that lasted from 1996-2010, the extent of human impact on the health of the rivers became apparent. In 2007, the Water Act was implemented - this was an important agreement of State and Commonwealth Governments to make key reforms to improve the health of the Murray-Darling rivers. In 2012, The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was introduced, heralded to be a coordinated sustainable approach to water use across the Basin. |
The Darling River today
In recent years, the Darling River was suffered from dry years and over-extraction upstream.
In 2015-2016, 500km of the Darling River, including Tolarno, was dry. This was not a result of drought - the catchment of the Darling River has had an average rainfall year. This was a man-made disaster. While water has returned, the Lower Darling River continues to suffer from the over-extraction of water in the upper catchment.
The NSW and Commonwealth Governments are not meeting their obligations of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. In 2016 and 2017, there are irrigator interests who are lobbying government to weaken the Plan.
Check out our videos below to understand some of our journey - fighting to save our river.
In 2015-2016, 500km of the Darling River, including Tolarno, was dry. This was not a result of drought - the catchment of the Darling River has had an average rainfall year. This was a man-made disaster. While water has returned, the Lower Darling River continues to suffer from the over-extraction of water in the upper catchment.
The NSW and Commonwealth Governments are not meeting their obligations of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. In 2016 and 2017, there are irrigator interests who are lobbying government to weaken the Plan.
Check out our videos below to understand some of our journey - fighting to save our river.
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March 2016
The lower Darling River has been dry since late 2015. This is not a result of drought - the catchment of the Darling River has had an average rainfall year. This is a man-made disaster. In March 2016, we asked the NSW Government to:
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April 2016
This video in April 2016 gives an update on the state of the river, the issues, and the response we are getting from government. We had written letters to our local (Federal and State) members, the Hon Adrian Piccoli, the Hon Kevin Humphries, the Hon Sussan Ley; the Minister for Primary Industries, Lands and Water, the Hon Niall Blair; and Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resource, the Hon Barnaby Joyce. However, we have had no response other than recognition of receipt. |
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March 2017
Water returned to the Lower Darling River in August 2016. From December 2016 - April 2017, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority let significant flows out of the Menindee Lakes, threatening the medium-term sustainability. Whilst NSW Water say there will be water in the lakes to 2019, the current flows will mean the lakes run low at the end of 2017. In the long term, a pipeline from Wentworth to Broken Hill raises significant concerns about the future of Menindee Lakes and the Lower Darling River. There has been no commitment by Nail Blair to ensure the environment sustainability of the Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling. |
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April 2017
Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling communities have been told that all current flows from the recent floods have been allocated to irrigation extraction. This means that it is not expected that any of this water will reach Menindee Lakes. Meanwhile, NSW Water must have a proposal for the changes in management of Menindee Lakes by 30 June 2017. Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling communities have not had any consultation on these plans, are are unable to get information from the department, less than 3 months out. |
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June 2017
In June 2017, the Commonwealth Government purchased the water license from Tandou, a cotton farm on the Menindee Lakes, for $78 million. Politicians immediately came out stating that this meant Menindee Lakes and the Lower Darling River would no longer require water security. The Australian covered the story - click here or download the article. 
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April 2018
The fight to save Menindee Lakes from significant changes which will have huge detrimental impact on the Lakes and lower Darling is on! on May 8, 2018, the Federal Senate will vote on whether to allow a suite of projects under the Murray Darling Basin Plan to go ahead. If this suite of projects is not stopped by the Senate, it will allow the NSW Government to go ahead with this devastating project.
Here is the analysis done by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority about the Menindee Lakes project. Despite the damning findings of the analysis, they recommended it go ahead.
The fight to save Menindee Lakes from significant changes which will have huge detrimental impact on the Lakes and lower Darling is on! on May 8, 2018, the Federal Senate will vote on whether to allow a suite of projects under the Murray Darling Basin Plan to go ahead. If this suite of projects is not stopped by the Senate, it will allow the NSW Government to go ahead with this devastating project.
Here is the analysis done by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority about the Menindee Lakes project. Despite the damning findings of the analysis, they recommended it go ahead.
| Murray Darling Basin Authority's analysis of the Menindee Lakes project |