Nearly a month since the mass fish kills in the Darling River at Menindee, state environment minister Penny Sharpe has confirmed an inquiry is only weeks away.
Over the weekend of March 17, 18 and 19 some 20 million native fish, mostly bony bream, perished when the oxygen levels in the river plummeted to nearly zero.
The catastrophic event triggered a multi-agency emergency response from various bodies including NSW Police, WaterNSW, DPI Fisheries, utility Essential Water and the Central Darling Shire.
Community meetings were held to keep local residents informed about the movements from the emergency response centre.
But many were still left feeling frustrated from perceived inaction.
Minister Sharpe said she understood how those in the community felt, but the timeline of the inquiry hinged on when the incoming water minister was sworn in.
"I'll be meeting with the chief scientist this week to work through what the terms of reference will be," she said.
"Importantly, I have been waiting on the incoming water minister who is Rose Jackson to be sworn in which was just last week.
"Together we'll be getting that inquiry up and running as soon as possible."
Ms Sharpe said she would like to see the investigation underway in the immediate future.
"In terms of time frame I really want it to be within a couple of weeks at the maximum," she said.
"We know that this is urgent and we don't want the people of Menindee to think for a minute that we have forgotten what is going on.
"We want to get to the bottom of it."
The inquiry will cover three components: what led to the fish kill, the emergency response, and the long-term consequences of this event.
Mistrust in community
Central Darling Shire administrator Bob Stewart has supported the need for an inquiry into the fish kills.
Mr Stewart said an investigation was needed, given the deep level of mistrust in government following the floods and fish deaths.
"[We] certainly welcome the inquiry into the fish deaths and the response, I think that is important," he said.
"As the minister identified there is a lack of trust in government by community and that trust needs to be rebuilt."
Mr Stewart believes the response time and clean up operation should be closely looked at.
"I'm particularly interested in the response, when [the fish kills] started to escalate on the Thursday and Friday," he said.
"There was certainly a remoteness and misunderstanding of the situation."
Test results show absence of chemicals
On Thursday, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) released a report of its finding into water testing at various spots in the Menindee Lakes and Darling River.
More than 600 insecticides and pesticides were tested for, but no traces of any chemicals were found in the water bodies.
Minister Sharpe said she was "buoyed" by the findings of the EPA's testing but it was just the beginning.
"It is not enough in terms of how the community feels about the quality of the water and getting to the bottom of this fish kill," she said.
"I was buoyed by those tests in the first place but there is much more to do."
Ms Sharpe said the inquiry will hopefully begin to "demystify" the water management and the sciences behind the Darling River and Menindee Lakes.
Ms Sharpe said she wanted to make any information that comes out of the investigation as transparent and easy-to-digest as possible.
