435E   The Darling River that borders the Australian outback town of Bourke, in north western NSW, had once been the artery that brought life and wealth to the region. Paddle steamers brought essential supplies to the town's residents, and headed back to southern ports loaded with bales of wool and other valuable rural produce. But under the impact of drought and increasing demand from farmers for irrigation water for their extensive fields of cotton, orchards of citrus, and vineyards, the river is dying. The water at Bourke is kept at an artificially high level by a weir, but elsewhere along the Darling's meandering route to join the Murray River more than 2,700 kilometres to the south, the once mighty waterway is little more than a series of stagnant pools. Sunflowers that bloom on the riverbank brighten the grey vision of the future that hangs over the Darling, and waterbirds, including pelicans such as the one that appears in the sky as little more than a fleck of dust, still flock to her restrained and limited waters to fish.

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