Geoff Sainty went on the saddest road trip when he drove to Menindee over the weekend.
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The leading wetland expert wanted to see just how bad the environmental destruction was with his own eyes and to take samples of the water back to Griffith.
He was bracing himself for the worst, but when he crested the hill near Lake Pamamaroo he was still shocked by what he saw.
Even a non-expert could tell it was not the colour of a healthy lake system, but to Mr Sainty’s trained eyes the blue-green water was a sign of cyanobacteria composed mostly of the potentially toxic organism called Microcystis.
Toxic cyanobacteria combined with lack of oxygen are the likely culprits for the thousands of dead fish that have been appearing on news channels around the world.
The images have infuriated Mr Sainty, who said the government could have taken steps to prevent this from happening years ago.
“The fish death was a reminder that the iconic Darling River has seriously deteriorated and the government has done nothing to stop this from happening,” Mr Sainty said.
He blames the cuts to the number of trained experts among the government's ranks, which he claims has led to the dumbing down of politics.
The downward spiral started back in the 1970s when European Carp swam out of Victoria and quickly spread to the Macintyre River, a Darling River tributary on the Queensland border.
Prior to this period the Darling River and its tributaries grew large beds of aquatic plants that were vital to the health of the system, but the feeding habits of Carp ended up uprooting them.
Mr Sainty said there are ways out of the current predicament, but that the experts were routinely ignored by those in power.
As a leading wetland ecologist, Mr Sainty has his own ideas to pump life back into the Darling River.
His plan would make use of existing irrigation pumps on the river to pump water through small shallow wetlands full of aquatic life and use these wetlands throughout the Darling River and its tributaries to replenish fish habitat.
This is one of many ideas that Mr Sainty believes could have saved the entire Darling River system, but he doubts whether those in power will take any heed.
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
