Mass fish deaths feared as Minns government promise to restore Murray-Darling rivers in doubt

Grazier is worried towns will ‘run out of water’ if flows don’t improve, urging state government to take action regardless of federal funds Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A New South Wales government plan to improve river flows after catastrophic fish deaths in the northern Murray-Darling Basin is in doubt after the federal government refused a $360m funding request. But environment advocates and experts say the NSW government must act on its promise to restore the Darling-Baaka river – and follow through on recommendations from its own expert panel – with one landholder warning of further fish kills as soon as next summer. Days after winning the 2023 election, the premier, Chris Minns, and senior state ministers visited Menindee and committed to an investigation of the mass fish kills. Since then, the state’s water minister, Rose Jackson, said the government had developed a series of “potential rule-based changes to water sharing plans which we believe would deliver improved connectivity and significant long-term benefits for the Murray-Darling Basin”. She said that she had written to the federal e