At Menindee, the lifeblood of the people has turned to bitter sludge

The fight for a healthy Darling-Baaka River is becoming a recurring nightmare' for the communities that depend on it

• NSW election 2023 live news and updates: polls, voting and results updates
• Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
• Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community

The massive fish kills of 2019, which saw a million fish float to the surface of the Darling-Baaka River, are no longer just a catastrophic ecological anomaly but a sustained and recurring nightmare" for far-west New South Wales.

That's what one Menindee resident, Dick Arnold, told me this week, as we waited around the town of 551 people for the state government to respond to the crisis. For the second time in four years the community has been smacked in the face with blatant evidence that the river they depend on is painfully sick. It is usually hard to stop people talking about water in Menindee, but for many the recent fish deaths mark a tipping point in the ongoing struggle for a healthy river that is too painful to discuss.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter