Murray–Darling fish kills
Menindee, New South Wales, Australia · -32.40°, 142.40° · River pollution
Millions of fish have died in the Darling River at Menindee during droughts and algal blooms, as upstream irrigators take the water.
The Murray–Darling Basin is Australia's food bowl and its rivers are heavily regulated and extracted. In the summers of 2018–19 and again in 2023, low flows, heat and blue-green algae stripped oxygen from the Darling at Menindee and killed fish by the million, including decades-old Murray cod. The Basin Plan aims to return water to the rivers but has been contested at every step.
In the game
Murray–Darling fish kills flares up as Polluted water. The fix is a gesture: drag through the floating waste to sweep it up. Done right, it becomes Water cleaned ♻️. Finish all three steps of its chain in one round for a combo, or take your time in Explore mode: a place you fully restore stays green on your map for good.
🧭 Fly there and restore it▶ Play a 60-second round