Fish communities in the upper Murrumbidgee River are in very poor condition, this has been documented since 2008 (Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable River Audit Reports).

Silver perch are now considered extinct in the Murrumbidgee River between Tantangara Dam and the ACT. Other native species at risk include the Macquarie perch, Trout cod, Murray cod, Two-spined blackfish, Golden perch, Mountain galaxias, Australian smelt, Murray crayfish, Platypus, Rakali (water rat) and Eastern long-neck turtles. The upper Murrumbidgee contains the best population of the endangered Macquarie perch in Australia.

Instream and riverbank vegetation, bird communities and wildlife are all impacted by the lack of flows with the habitat they rely upon shrinking and unreliable.

The river is increasingly becoming of such poor-quality water that it is hazardous to human health and unreliable as a source of drinking water. During the drought in 2019, the river ceased to flow, reducing the Murrumbidgee to stagnant, algae-choked pools. Drinking water was trucked into the Township of Tharwa, a sign that current arrangements are not supporting critical human water needs.

The nutrient, sediment and bacteria in the water coming down the river are of concern, and in regards to nutrients, are failing the Australian New Zealand Environment and Conservation drinking water guidelines – a major cause for concern for our water security in a drying climate.

As a source of consumptive water for the region – including as Canberra’s third supply of drinking water – we are dependent on a healthy river with good water quality to supplement our drinking water during dry times. Poor water quality and availability on the back-end of the drought in 2017-19 has raised concerns about the reliability of access to critical drinking water in future dry years.

The current quality and quantity of the water in the river is failing our First Nations by breaking songlines, impacting Cultural practice, ceremony, health and wellbeing.

In recent years, the river has been closed for recreational use over summer due to elevated levels of enterococci bacteria in the water.

Our Murabidji River is dying.

Waterways are our pathways into the mountains and follow songlines which are tens of thousands of years old. Our rivers enable us to engage in our cultural ceremonies, trade, initiation, marriage and cultural responsibilities.

Ngunnawal people see our waterways and Country dying as a result of the current upstream water management in the Upper Murrumbidgee valley. Upstream water management is compromising both the ecological and cultural values and impacting our people’s health and well-being. Without doubt, our observations are supported by Western science.

Our Ngunnawal Country needs a sustainable water flow in the Murrumbidgee River or it will die along with the river. We need a plan that returns more water back to the river and protects it from extraction. Such a plan needs to support and protect our cultural values, cultural practices and cultural uses.

To save our river and Country, we ask for governments to turn their attention to the plight of the Upper Murrumbidgee River and the Ngunnawal Traditional Custodians, and accept that it is a shared responsibility between governments to protect and maintain our waterways for ALL people. We are ready to talk when you are.

We are seeing the river increasingly closed for recreational use because of elevated bacterial levels that make it unsafe to swim and enjoy.

High levels of sediment and organic material are continually being washed into the river, and this can cause major bacterial activity to occur.

Periods of elevated bacterial levels are not limited to being associated with storm events. There is emerging evidence indicating a relationship also exists between low flows and high enterococci levels. However, further research is needed to understand the mechanism for this process.

These issues were raised by the ACT Government as part of routine reporting under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and will continue to occur if we don’t take action now.