 |
| Back of the Menindee Lakes, NSW |
We left Bourke arriving at a very busy Louth. Sorry I have no pictures. The town was getting ready for their annual Louth Races, planned the following weekend. These small towns just explode; this is what helps them keep going. As we headed off, we were all hoping that the rain stayed at a drizzle (too much rain brings mud and road closures and the Races would have to be called off).
 |
| In the shed @ Tilby Station |
 |
Our stop for the night, Tilby Station
|
We took the back road as the word was it was much better than the main track. We headed out with full tummies after a late lunch, heading for Wilcannia for an overnight stay. We travelled through awesome country and a small town called Tilpa - a pub, some houses, and a river crossing, and the longest boat ramp I ever seen!
 |
| Checking out the trees and wild flowers |
We all then met up at Broken Hill in the Patrol hanger. I took the time for a real coffee - nice! My car said goodbye and headed back to Dubbo with a fellow traveller. Then we fueled up and headed to Menindee Lakes. This was a great part of the River story as it is very relevant for Broken Hill's water, but also the levels have changed over the last three years. In 2012 the lakes were full and the environment was alive with birds and tourists everywhere. I dug some of my 2012 photos to compare to the one below.
 |
Weir Wall in 2015 (above) and what it looked like in 2012 (below)
 |
And this is the same spot now, trees out of water |
|
I will post some photos on Facebook showing the now and then. Local people say this is normal for the lakes' area - waters come and go, giving life to the trees and the bugs feed birds like wrens and other types. But the question is - how do the needs of the Broken Hill people get the water they need as this "boom and bust" process takes it course. We all like to have a place to sit by a lake and if lucky, take a boat for a spin or fish but then there is the next person down stream who also needs the river. We'll talk about this some more next time.
 |
| Darling River at Bindara Station |
It is sad what effects the mls has had on native fish, the alternative water supply is about reinstating fish passage as part of the native fish strategy. Both silver perch and murray cod desperatly need to be able to migrate past the main weir, but can not. The primary breeding grounds of the silver perch is the warrego paroo and juvenile cod would chasing food migrate as far as Queensland before returning to the murray at 30-45cm to start breeding.
ReplyDelete