In the desert climate of far western New South Wales, the Menindee Lakes are a lifeline.
A natural part of the Darling River system, they've been used since the 1960s to provide water to the nearby city of Broken Hill.
For much longer, they've been a place to escape the outback heat.
Nyampa man Dennis Sloane has lived in the region his whole life.
He told SBS News the river and lakes were a vital part of the community.
“The river is very important for us," he said.
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"Our community, our children, where they go camping they go fishing, and bush tucker you know, all of that.”
Just three years ago the lake system was filled to capacity, holding three and a half times more water than Sydney Harbour.
Today, they're close to empty.
A new reverse osmosis plant in Broken Hill has just been completed, ready to remove salt from a water supply that's dropping in quality as the level declines.
It's an urgent yet temporary measure while authorities scramble for a long-term solution.
Menindee resident Karen Page said a decision to release water to support communities and the environment downstream has left locals short-handed.
“We rely on these waters here for our recreation,” she told SBS News.
“Our environment relies on the waters here, our wildlife relies on the waters here. It's the lifeblood of our region, and without waters here, our region's dying.”
“It’s my opinion that we’re being let down, extremely let down by all levels.”
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She's not alone in her opinion.
Darryn Clifton runs the Broken Hill Menindee Lakes 'We Want Action' Facebook page.
“It's got to come to an equality, an equal balance right along the whole system,” he said.
“You can't have an environmental disaster sitting here in the Menindee Lakes, pristine irrigation up north, pristine environmental flows down south. It's got to fit in together.”
The Department of Primary Industries' Gavin Hanlon from is part of a team investigating long-term options.
He told SBS News an extended dry period that followed the last major release of water was unexpected.
“It's a bit hard to predict these sorts of things and whether this problem's always going to happen or not,” he says.
“I think it's fair to say in the last 20 years or so we've had dry spells, four or five really big dry spells, that haven't happened before in history.”
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He defended a decision to continue releasing small amounts of water downstream as recently as July this year.
“There's not that much water left there at all, but again we're now at the point where we're balancing water for all users to try and get the best option.”
Funding of $500 million has been set aside to find a solution, and one option is a pipeline from South Australia or another part of NSW.
But right now Broken Hill residents face a dwindling fresh water supply and the loss of one of the outback city's major attractions.
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