stretches of dry river bed

just returned from xmas visit to my family who live on the Darling ... sadly a chain of waterholes for miles both above and below Wilcannia. In between the waterholes are long stretches of completely dry river bed. It seems to be the driest ever seen on this Darling section of the Murray Darling Basin. This is a view of the river from the bridge at Wilcannia - a turgid, sad, green mess.

And another one showing the stretches of dry river bed - in between the waterholes.

Following are some comparison photos; Again more of my Stereo images (see previous posts on 'free viewing'). This one shows the totaly dry river bed - in a bend i have photographed since 1991 when we first saw the river a thin trickle of barely flowing water. Compare it to the last flood of 1998 to 2000, taken from a similar place .

Archway, December, 2006

Archway, December 2006

Archway, 1998 Flood

There is some good news - not all gloom n doom. The water quality is on the improve. With very little cotton being produced there are less insecticides, pesticides and fertilisers going into the river and the water is for the first time in ages pretty clear with beneficial river weed for fish and water. So far this season no outbreaks of hyperfertilised Blue-green algae.