As work progresses towards restoring fish passage in the Menindee lakes and Lower Darling-Baaka River, the NSW Government has announced the lead design consultant contract has been awarded to 3Rivers.
3Rivers (a joint venture between Jacobs and GHD) will lead the Menindee and Lower Darling-Baaka Fish Passage Business Case a part of the permanent works, providing technical expertise to design and cost solutions to restore fish passage.
The NSW Government and Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) are collaborating on the project to allow native fish like Golden Perch and Murray Cod to migrate freely to feed, breed and access new habitat. This vital work will support native fish recovery and ecological resilience, and provide long-term, system-wide improvements to river health.
“Today’s announcement is a positive step towards mitigating future mass fish deaths and giving our native fish a better chance of survival. It’s an important piece of work that will ensure the necessary information is available to Basin governments to make an informed investment decision,” said Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt.
“This project is focused on long-term, permanent solutions, not just band-aid fixes. It will support native fish recovery, river connectivity and healthier river systems for the environment and communities.”
With a combined investment of $16 million to investigate fish passage solutions in the region, the Australian Government, MDBA and NSW Government are taking the first decisive steps to address the long-standing challenges in connectivity and ecological restoration in this part of the Basin.
This includes:
- Combined Commonwealth funding of $3.56 million for MDBA to prepare a business case to address permanent fish passage at the Lake Wetherell outlet regulator.
- NSW Government’s funding of $12.5 million to complete both a detailed holistic business case for fish passage solutions across the Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling-Baaka River and the Fishheart temporary passage.
“We’re delighted to have 3Rivers on board to provide their valuable technical expertise to this vital project and we look forward to working closely with them,” said MDBA Chief Executive, Andrew McConville.
“Community collaboration will be a critical part of 3Rivers developing the right designs to enable fish passage through the Lakes and the Baaka, and to ensure the business case is thorough and clear.
“The Barkandji people, the Traditional Owners, along with other First Nations groups and communities will play a key role in shaping the design and cost-benefit analysis, to ensure local and cultural knowledge is incorporated into the final recommendations.”
The business case development includes: initial investigations, stakeholder consultation with the local community including Barkandji Traditional Owners and other First Nations groups, concept designs, environmental assessments, and cost-benefit analysis.
With a focus on critical regulator and weir sites in the Menindee and Lower Darling-Baaka, between Lake Wetherell and Pooncarie Weir. If implemented, this would lead to the restoration of 518 kilometres of connectivity between the northern and southern Murray–Darling Basin.
“We’ve made good progress implementing the recommendations of the NSW Chief Scientist with expanded water quality monitoring, improved response triggers and additional resources,” said NSW Minister for Water, Rose Jackson.
“But we know enduring fish passage and river health is the ultimate aim and we’re getting on with that job.”
While work is ongoing, the NSW Government has funded a 3-year trial of a temporary fish passage technology called Fishheart, at the Lake Wetherell outlet regulator to help manage the risk of native fish getting stuck in the Menindee town weir pool.
“Already, Fishheart is using innovative science, data and infrastructure to reduce the short-term risk of fish kills, however, this permanent fix will have a long-term impact for restoring our native fish,” said Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional NSW, and Minister for Western NSW, Tara Moriarty.
“Our regional communities depend on us to get this right so that hopefully, in the future, our native fish can migrate the entire length of the Basin.”
