Darling River

The Darling River is a vital waterway in the Australian outback. It is the third-longest river in Australia. If you include its longest connected tributaries, it is the longest river system in the country.

The river is known as the Baaka or Barka by the Paakantyi people. It flows from northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. This river is a central part of the massive Murray-Darling river system. This system drains much of New South Wales, northern Victoria, southern Queensland, and parts of South Australia.

The river follows a very winding course across the land. This meandering path is actually three times longer than the direct distance it travels. Much of the land the river flows through consists of flat plains. Because the land is so level, the river has a very low gradient. It only drops an average of 16 mm per kilometre. The river officially begins between Brewarrina and Bourke. This happens at the confluence, or meeting point, of the Culgoa and Barwon rivers. Many other rivers join the system, such as the Bogan, Warrego, and Paroo rivers.

Indigenous Australians have lived along the Darling River for tens of thousands of years. The Barkindji people refer to the river as the Baaka or Barka. At Brewarrina, they created ancient fish traps using rock formations. These traps are estimated to be more than 40,000 years old. This makes them potentially the oldest man-made structures on the planet.

These sites were also used for important intertribal meetings among Indigenous Australians.

European exploration of the region began in the early 1800s. In 1828, explorers Charles Sturt and Hamilton Hume investigated the Macquarie River. In 1829, Sturt visited the upper Darling and named it after Sir Ralph Darling. This was the Governor of New South Wales at the time. Later, in 1835, Major Thomas Mitchell travelled part of the river. He correctly believed the river flowed into the Murray River. In 1856, the Blandowski Expedition travelled to the junction of the Darling and Murray rivers. They successfully collected 17,400 fish specimens for the National Museum.

During the late 19th century, the river was a major route for transportation. Pastoralists used shallow-draft paddle steamers to move wool. They sent goods from river ports like Bourke and Wilcannia to railheads in South Australia. Wentworth was even Australia's busiest inland port in the late 1880s. However, the importance of the river for transport has declined over the last century. Today, people use the Barrier Highway and the Broken Hill railway line to cross the river instead.

Currently, the Darling River is in poor health. It suffers from over-allocation of water for irrigation and pollution from pesticide runoff. The river also faces problems with high salt content and declining water quality. In 1992, a severe cyanobacterial bloom occurred along the river's length. This was a bloom of toxic algae that flourished due to the presence of phosphorus. Other factors included flow rates, temperature, and turbidity, which is the cloudiness of the water.

In 2019, a drought caused a crisis where up to 1 million fish died.

Environmental changes have also impacted the local ecosystems. In 2008, the Federal government purchased Toorale Station for $23 million. This allowed the government to return environmental flows to the river. However, the Menindee Lakes Scheme has reduced the frequency of natural flooding. This has resulted in the destruction of 13,800 hectares of lignum and 8,700 hectares of Black box plants. In 2023, another major fish kill occurred at Menindee. Millions of fish, including Murray cod and golden perch, died due to high temperatures and low oxygen levels. The long-term health of the river depends on careful management.