A GROUP of volunteers and government officers have been traipsing through the trickling remnants of the region's once-mighty rivers on a "pretty dire" task.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A three-day fish rescue operation in the Peel and Namoi rivers wrapped up this week.
It might seem dire taking a few dozen fish all the way to Wagga in the name of conservation, but the optimism of the volunteer crew was hard to ignore.
READ MORE:
"These fish they are rescuing are the ones you want to breed from, because they have made it this far into the drought," OzFish North West president Anne Michie said.
"They are the smarter fish: they have found the refuge holes."
The rescued haul included 16 cod, three yellowbelly and at least five catfish.
The operation was instigated after a state government measure saw flow cease in the Peel River.
A weir was installed at Dungowan village to preserve water for "critical human needs".
A number of factors led to the Peel drying faster than expected.
"The water got cut off - and it got completely cut off, it wasn't tapered off," Ms Michie said.
"Then we have hit record high temperatures; we have just endured some 43 degree days, that saps the moisture out of everything.
"It has been a combination for it to end up as bad as it has as quickly as it has."
The operation was partly a passion project for the keen anglers, who wanted to ensure there was sustainable fishing for the future.
Ms Michie said there were wider implications as well.
"It is every creature in the ecosystem," she said.
"It all stems back to human health.
"If the river is sick and dying, it impacts hugely on the local community ... whether they come down to fish or swim or kayak, or just to sit down and enjoy nature."