The data from this study region includes 7 oral histories (audio as mp3s, and transcripts) and 4 image galleries, as well as a georeferenced hand-drawn map of the area.

The Namoi River is fed by the rivers of the western slopes of the Great Dividing range from whence it winds its way through 42 000 square kilometres of blacksoil plain in the north east of New South Wales.

This region is the traditional lands of the Gamilaraay people. The Namoi today is a very different river to the one the Gamilaraay people once knew and fished. Now its flows are held by Split Rock, Keepit and Chaffey Dams and numerous weirs, as water is diverted to irrigate cotton.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Namoi: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page158]]> View or download from publisher...]]>
The Upper Murrumbidgee meanders through the Snowy Mountains in south‐eastern New South Wales, snaking its way south, then turning north before dropping into the lowland and heading west to join the Murray downstream of Swan Hill. The Upper ‘Bidgee floodplain is only a couple of hundred metres wide, a stark contrast to the kilometres‐wide floodplains in other parts of the Murray‐Darling Basin. When the floods come, they come up quickly and roar through the narrow valleys.

Since Europeans arrived the health of the river and its fish has been shaped by the people who came to live there and the industries that developed. Mining and grazing, and the development of Canberra brought new people with new needs. Once, river levels would rise with the spring snow melt before falling slowly over the summer. Today the snow melt is collected in Tantangara Dam before being returned to the ‘Bidgee below Burrinjuck Dam. The river between these dams is a shadow of its former self.

These are the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngarigo peoples. They fished the river and surrounding waterways and the seasonal rise and fall of the water guided their travels and featured in their stories.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Upper Murrumbidgee: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin, Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> View or download from publisher...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page140]]>
The Ovens River rises in the Victorian Alps where it is linked to significant freshwater meadows and marshes. At Wangaratta it is joined by the King River and it meets the Murray near the top of Lake Mulwala.

The Ovens River is one of the last largely unregulated rivers in the Murray Darling Basin and is particularly important as a reference against which to assess the state of other lowland rivers in the region. Since Europeanisation, industries including grazing, gold mining, tobacco and plantation forestry, have bought different types of workers with new needs to the river.
There are areas where the riparian vegetation has been replaced by willows, there have been significant water quality issues and there are far too many pest fish.

These are the traditional lands of the Bangerang people and their neighbours the Taungurung and Yorta Yorta peoples. They have fished the river and surrounding waterways and hunted the wetlands and the ebb and flow of water guided their travels and featured in their stories.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Ovens: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page122]]> View or download from publisher...]]>
The Goulburn River rushes westward down from the steep hills and mountains of the Great Dividing Range toward Seymour. The river then turns northward and meanders through hills and plains until the river meets the Murray upstream of Echuca.

These are the traditional lands of the Taungurung, Bangerang and Yorta Yorta peoples. However, the Goulburn River today is not the river the Taungurung, Bangerang and Yorta Yorta once knew and fished.

Water is now stored in Lake Eildon and controlled by Goulburn Weir at Nagambie. Flows peak in summer to meet irrigation needs and drops off in winter/spring. These changes mean there are a lot less fish than there were. Before the turn of the twentieth century, there are many stories of catching Macquarie perch, Murray cod, trout cod, blackfish and yellowbelly. There were no carp, no redfin and no trout. Now, there are very few Macquarie perch and no trout cod.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. (2011). Goulburn: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page102]]> View or download from publisher...]]>
The Murray River is the boundary between NSW and Victoria. The river both defines boundaries and unites them with the waters that sustain townships, irrigation and the floodplain forests, including the 70,000ha of the iconic Barmah and Millewa Forest. The river and its floodplain are the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang people. The Murray is a very different river to the one the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang peoples once knew and fished.

Today, flows in the river are controlled by Hume Dam – the first of 15 structures on the main channel. By the time it reaches Corowa, the Murray has changed from a small clear stream to a fast flowing river, its waters tea brown. Near Yarrawonga the Murray enters Lake Mulwala, where the skeletons of old drowned red gums are a stark memorial to the way the river’s changed.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Murray: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page080]]> View or download from publisher...]]>
Once known as Crabb’s Creek, Katarapko Creek is a small anabranch of the Murray River, located between the towns of Berri and Loxton in the Riverland region of South Australia. Its 9,000 hectare grey clay floodplain is covered with blackbox, saltbush and lignum. The creek’s horseshoe lagoons,
marshes and islands are the traditional lands of the Meru peoples.

Today, Katarapko’s red gum and river coobahͲlined waters leave the Murray near Lock and Weir 4, rejoining the river 16km later. Katarapko has seen many changes as its waters were blocked, floodplains grazed, and surrounding irrigation districts flourished. Berri Evaporation Basin and Katarapko Island Disposal Basin have both taken a toll as they collected salty irrigation drainage water.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Katarapko: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]> View or download from publisher...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page038]]>
After gathering water from 23 river valleys, the Murray empties into Lakes Alexandrina and Albert before making its way to the Coorong and out the Murray Mouth to Encounter Bay in South Australia. The entire Murray‐Darling Basin is upstream. Everything that happens there affects what goes on here. Wind is almost a constant here. Nothing separates this unique piece of Australia from Antarctica and the full brunt of the Southern Ocean.

The River, Lakes and Coorong are part of the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people. These waters provided food and featured in their stories. The Ngarrindjeri people have seen their land and river change. As well as being uniquely affected by changes upstream, the Lower Lakes, Coorong and their fish have been shaped by industries like sheep and cattle grazing, commercial fishing and tourism have all brought new people into the area, with new needs and new ways to catch its fish.

The Lower Lakes and the Coorong once formed one big estuary where fresh and saltwater mixed. The Lakes only became salty during droughts. Now, barrages separate the freshwater from the salt and the Lakes from the Coorong. Flows from upstream have declined so much that in recent years a dredge has been used to keep the Murray Mouth open to the sea.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. The Coorong and Lower Lakes: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]>  View or download from publisher...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page018]]>
Geographically the Balonne is an extension of the Condamine River and starts near Glenmorgan. It flows through gently undulating country before reaching an expansive flat plain where it splits and forms several smaller rivers including the Culgoa. The Culgoa River twists and turns across the floodplain and through coolabah woodlands before flowing into the Darling River between the towns of Brewarrina and Bourke.

The 123 000km2 catchment of the Culgoa – Balonne Rivers is semiͲarid and experiences a highly variable rainfall. The rainfall is reflected in the rivers’ flows which often cease for long periods of time, sometimes for up to a few years. During such prolonged droughts only very large waterholes continue to hold water. When the rains are good, the whole floodplain may turn into a slow flowing river around a metre deep.

These rivers are significant to the Bigambul, Kooma, Muruwari, Gungarri, Mandandanjii and Gamilaroi people who have traditionally lived, fished and told stories about these rivers and the life they support.

(Source: Sarac, Z., Sewell, H., Ringwood, G., Baker, E. and Nichols, S. (2012). Culgoa - Balonne: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page220]]>  View or download from publisher...]]>
The Lower Darling River and Great Darling Anabranch are located in southͲwest New South Wales. Muddy waters meander over the grey soil floodplains past red dunes, spiky saltbush and gnarled red gums. These are the traditional lands of the Paakintji people. But the land and the river are no longer what the Paakintji once knew and fished.

11 000 years ago, the Darling River changed its course just south of Menindee Lakes, leaving the Great Anabranch’s 460km channel to dry and flow into the Murray only during big floods. Since its discovery by Europeans, the Great Anabranch has been the focus of dreams to use the ancient river channel to deliver water for irrigation. The Darling itself was once a busy transportation route, with paddlesteamers carrying wool and other goods between Bourke and the rest of the colony.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Darling and the Great Anabranch: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]> see details...]]> http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page058]]>  View or download from publisher...]]> Climate Change Adaptation Research Program (CCARP) Database of Watering Requirements - Images ; Photographer: Gunther Schmida (CC-BY-NC)   see details... ]]> Atlas of Living Australia]]>