Council joins call for urgent river meeting

Broken Hill has joined a united call from Barwon-Darling Councils for an urgent meeting with Minister for Regional Water, Niall Blair, to express concerns regarding the health of the river system.

Mayor Darriea Turley met with Mayors and representatives from Wentworth, Brewarrina, Bourke, Central Darling Shires, together with The Chief Executive of the of the Murray Darling Association, via teleconference on Tuesday to discuss the dire state of the Barwon-Darling System.

They agreed that there is an urgent need to look at both short-term and long term strategies to improve the health of the river system and that can only be achieved via maintaining a consistency of flow.

Each of the Councils acknowledged the complexity of the problem and the substantial costs involved in seeking a long term solution, while recognising the overwhelming benefits that water brings and its social and environmental impact on affected areas.

Councils highlighted that they were not looking to apportion blame for the current situation but rather seek to work collaboratively with other tiers of Government and all other stakeholders to ascertain what short term and longer term solutions can be implemented to minimise the likelihood of a recurrence of the current situation.

The Councils have requested a meeting with Minister for Regional Water, Niall Blair, to assist in identifying these solutions.

An invite will also be extended to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage.

All Mayors have indicated that they are prepared to travel to Sydney or another agreed location to ensure the meeting goes ahead.

The Councils all agreed that the issue was urgent, and will look to convene the meeting as soon as possible, hopefully as early as next week.