Fishes--Identification]]> Plants--Identification]]> Water resources]]> Water--Law and legislation]]> Water quality]]> Floodplains]]> Weirs]]> Cotton]]> Vertisols]]> Blackwater]]> Introduced fishes]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Eucalyptus camaldulensis]]> Grazing]]> Livestock]]>
Peter and Margaret (Pop) Petersen were the former managers of Brenda Station in Goodooga. On the Culgoa River, it spans both New South Wales and Queensland. Previously owned by the Church of England, Brenda Station was primarily involved in grazing sheep and cattle. The Culgoa River which runs through the property, was a major source of feed and water for the Petersen's and their community. Peter and Pop reminisce about the pleasant experiences had on Brenda Station and discuss the course of events leading to the less than ideal conditions that the river is currently in. They also talk about: the long term benefits of floods; the changes in flows as a result of irrigation and intense agriculture; differences in water colour (red Maranoa, black Darling Downs); Artesian bore drains; Aboriginal tools found on the property.

The Petersens have maintained records of rainfall, river height, and floods that date back to 1872.
]]> CC-BY]]> Waka Waka / Wakka Wakka people]]> Mandandanji people]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Native plants]]> Land custodianship]]> Connection to Country]]> Dreaming (Spiritual)]]> Kitchen-middens--Australia]]> Water quality]]> Erosion]]> Farming]]> Deforestation]]> Aboriginal fish traps]]> Places of significance]]> Land degradation]]> Water allocations]]> Water conservation]]> Cotton]]> Water pollution]]> Salinization]]> River rehabilitation]]> Aboriginal history]]> Farming]]> Droughts]]> Introduced fishes]]> Water wells]]> Mandandanji (Australian people)]]> Sacred sites]]> Activism]]>
Robert Lacey is an Indigenous man who has resided in the St George area in southern Queensland most his life. His people are the traditional owners of the land: his mother is a Mandandanji woman, while his father is a Waka Waka man.

Robert discusses the connection he has with the land and the river, he expresses the honour he feels in being trusted to take care of Country. He discusses the history of the river and its declining health; commercial use of the river; and the work he personally does on recording the sites of cultural significance and heritage sites finding over 100 in just a few years. He says that the river is a source of peace, tranquility, food, leisure - the life blood of the land.

Robert also mentions the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) and his elation at the 1967 Australian Referendum and what it meant for Aboriginal people, and also the political activism by his family.]]> CC-BY]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Crustaceans]]> Birds--Identification]]> Plants--Identification]]> Water resources]]> Floodplains]]> Weeds]]> Irrigation]]> Water quality]]> Introduced fishes]]> Cotton]]> No-till farming]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Weirs]]> Fishes--Breeding]]> Aboriginal scarred tree]]>
He also discusses how European Carp came into the water system during the 1974 flood; the importance of floodplains to the breeding cycles of fish; Aboriginal scarred trees, and evidence of large gathering sites (remains of shell middens); the Chinese population in the area and the environmental impacts of the rice industry.

Mention of the the Flood Plain Association and Water Act (Queensland).]]> CC-BY]]>
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...]]>
Cultural flows aims to help address the lack of authority that Aboriginal Nations hold in negotiating water flows. In turn, it hopes to improve and foster the cultural, social, spiritual, environmental, economic and natural aspects of Aboriginal peoples’ lives.

This new paradigm has been created by, and agreed upon by Aboriginal organisations within the Murray-Darling Basin including the Northern Basins Aboriginal Nations (NBAN) and Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN).
]]> Murray-Darling Basin Authority]]> National Cultural Flows Research Project]]> Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations]]>
Bourke was once the end of the line for most of the paddlesteamers that made their way up the muddy Darling. They sometimes had to wait for months before the waters became navigable and when the rains didn’t come, the channel dried to a series of pools.

Since the coming of Europeans, the health of the river and its fish have degraded. The paddlesteamer trade, grazing, and irrigation, all changed the rivers. Weirs were constructed, reaches desnagged, water extracted, foreign animals and plants introduced and new ways to catch fish also had an impact. These changes mean there are now a lot less fish than there were. Before the turn of the twentieth century there are stories of catching great numbers of silver perch, Murray cod, catfish and yellowbelly - and no tales of carp.

These are the traditional lands of the Ngiyampaa, Murawari and Yuwalaraay peoples. They have seen great changes to the river and surrounding waterways where they fished and hunted the wetlands.

(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Darling ‐ Brewarrina to Bourke: 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%3Afrawley2012page178]]> VIAF Persistent ID]]> National Library of Australia (NLA) Persistent ID]]> ORCID]]> see details...]]> Atlas of Living Australia]]> Climate Change Adaptation Research Program (CCARP) Database of Watering Requirements - Images; Photographer: Gunther Schmida (CC-BY-NC)   see details... ]]> Atlas of Living Australia]]>