‘It's our lifeblood': the Murray-Darling and the fight for Indigenous water rights

When the water levels of the Darling river fall, local elders in Wilcannia, New South Wales, say, the crime rate spikes, particularly juvenile crime.

The dried out Paroo river, part of the Murray-Darling basin,
on the Wilcannia to Tilpa road. When the water levels
 fall, the crime rate spikes, Indigenous elders say. 

It seems like an odd correlation until the elders explain just how important the river is to their everyday lives.

“It’s boring here when the river stops running,” says Michael Kennedy, chairman of the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council. “It becomes a lifeless place. We can’t find the tranquilities and therapies of the river.”

Read the story by Anne Davies from The Guardian - “‘It's our lifeblood': the Murray-Darling and the fight for Indigenous water rights.”