Expert: Ian Smith - 2/14/2010

Question
Hello Ian,
Do you know what resources are found in the Darling River? And do you know if it is used for transportation a lot/usually? Also, do you know if the Darling River is used for trading at all?
Thank you,
Brianna

Answer
Although it's outside of my area of expertise I'll have a go anyway.
Firstly, you have to bear in mind that rivers in Australia aren't like rivers elsewhere, i.e. they hardly flow at all.  In fact the Murray is officially listed as the world's slowest flowing river.
The Darling, which flows into it, doesn't flow at all at times such as the recent 7 year drought when it dried up and was just a series of ponds in some places.
Apart from lack of rain in the semi arid country it flows through, cotton farms have huge storage capacity upstream and that water is sourced mainly from the river.  It's a bone of contention here at the moment.
Downstream you're more apt to find cattle and sheep country but it's tough going for those who choose to live out there.
There's also the Menindee Lakes which are explained here:
The Menindee Lakes System begins on the Darling River about 200 kilometres upstream from the junction of the Darling and Murray rivers at Wentworth.
There are four main lakes, Lake Menindee, Lake Cawndilla, Lake Pamamaroo, and Lake Wetherell created from a series of natural depressions that filled during floods.
The Menindee Lakes and Darling River were a lifeline for early explorers and it was thought the Darling would provide a means to develop Australia's interior. The flows of the river proved to be unreliable causing difficulties with navigation and water supply and the idea of using the Menindee Lakes for water conservation was born in the late 1890s. Today the lakes and dams create a welcome water haven in the arid Outback landscape as well as a bird-watchers paradise where bird watching tours are highly recommended.
There was a recent documentary on our ABC TV where two men went down the entire length in a "tinnie" as we call them.  That's a small aluminium boat about 14ft long.  If you were keen to get more info you could source that and get it.
Hope that has helped you somewhat.
Cheers from down under