The Richmond River Is Dying. A Commissioner Is the Only Way to Save It.
The Ballina Environment Society, alongside Richmond Landcare and a growing coalition of local legends and river advocates, is calling for the immediate appointment of a Richmond River Commissioner with the statutory authority and dedicated funding necessary to rescue our dying waterway.
Photo: Damien Maher from Southern Cross University. Dead fish in the Richmond River, downstream of Tuckean barrage at Bagotville.
Fish kills. Toxic sludge. A D-minus rating — year after year. The Richmond River, one of northern NSW's most significant waterways and a place of deep cultural and ecological importance to the Bundjalung people, is in a state of ecological collapse. And the patchwork of local government management responsible for its care is not working.
BES, alongside Richmond Landcare and a growing coalition of river advocates, is calling for the immediate appointment of a Richmond River Commissioner. Here is what you need to know — and why it matters.
The Richmond’s report card: D-minus and declining
The NSW Marine Estate has formally assessed the Richmond River as having "worse ecological health than most estuaries in NSW." This is not an activist's claim — it is a state government finding. Ecohealth reports consistently award the Richmond a D-minus grade, while comparable catchments across the state maintain stable ecosystems.
The primary driver of this collapse is the accumulation of Monosulfidic Black Ooze (MBO) in the upper estuaries and drains. MBO is a toxic sediment — a byproduct of historical wetland drainage — that has built up over decades in our waterways. It acts as a chemical time bomb. When heavy rainfall flushes it into the river system, it instantly strips oxygen from the water. The result is the devastating fish kills that have become a grim and recurring hallmark of life on the Richmond. These events are not accidents. They are the predictable outcome of a systemic crisis that has been left unaddressed for too long.
A Fragmented system that has failed the river
The Richmond River catchment spans multiple local government areas — and that is precisely where the structural problem lies. No single body holds the authority, mandate, or dedicated funding to coordinate a catchment-wide response.
Environmental programs that should operate across the whole river are instead negotiated piecemeal, by councils with competing priorities, limited resources, and no unified plan.
This fragmentation has allowed MBO remediation, riparian buffer restoration, and agricultural pollution management to fall through the cracks, repeatedly and at great cost to the river's health.
Image: River Ecology Australia, Report Card Spring 2024 and Autumn 2025 - https://www.riverecology.com.au/richmond-river-ecological-health-program
The problem of inaction: Lismore’s wait-and-see approach
BES is deeply concerned by Lismore City Council's recent decision to effectively pause environmental action until the completion of the CSIRO hydrodynamic study. We understand that flood modelling is important — particularly given the scale of devastation brought by the 2022 floods. But the CSIRO study is a flood engineering tool. It models physical water movement. It does not address the chemical crisis unfolding in the Richmond right now.
Acid sulfate soils and MBO do not need a flood model to diagnose. They are an ongoing emergency. By tying environmental recovery to flood infrastructure timelines, councils risk sentencing the Richmond to further years of neglect. Flood resilience and ecological recovery must happen in parallel — not sequentially.
Why a Richmond River Commissioner is the answer
BES, Richmond Landcare, and a broad coalition of river advocates are calling for the immediate appointment of a Richmond River Commissioner — a dedicated role with statutory authority and dedicated funding to provide the catchment-wide leadership the Richmond so desperately needs.
A Commissioner would, for the very first time, enable coordinated action across all levels of government and all affected local government areas. Their mandate would include leading MBO and acid sulfate soil remediation as an ongoing environmental emergency, restoring riparian buffers that protect biodiversity and filter agricultural runoff, actively engaging the region's diverse agricultural industries in sustainable land and water management, and coordinating catchment-wide responses to sediment and pollution issues that currently fall between council boundaries.
Critically, a Commissioner would ensure that while we build flood-resilient infrastructure, we are also — right now — treating the legacy of MBO and restoring the river that our community, our wildlife, and our region's biodiversity depend on.
The Richmond has been waiting long enough.
BES acknowledges the Bundjalung Nation, the Nyangbul people, and the Widjabul Wia-bal people as the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of this region, and recognises the essential role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play in caring for the Richmond River and sea country.
The Richmond River ‘is dying’ – that’s according to local experts who are taking their fight to the state government.
They say toxic build up is causing irreparable harm to the region’s marine life.
Water engineer Steve Posselt and Researcher Graeme Gibson on NBN news, 25 March 2026
More resources:
River Ecology Australia, Report Card Spring 2024 and Autumn 2025 - https://www.riverecology.com.au/richmond-river-ecological-health-program
NBN News, 25 March 2026, Locals Fight to Save Richmond River - https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2026/03/25/locals-fight-to-save-richmond-river/
ABC News, 14 December 2023, 'Cocktail of pesticides' found in Richmond River, including chemical banned in 2006 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-14/illegal-chemical-among-pesticides-detected-in-richmond-river/103222592
Byron Bay Echo, 27 March 2026, Renewed call for Richmond River Commission - https://www.echo.net.au/2026/03/renewed-call-for-richmond-river-commission/
Byron Bay Echo, 11 March 2026, Why we need a Richmond River Commissioner - https://www.echo.net.au/2026/03/why-we-need-a-richmond-river-commissioner/
Byron Bay Echo, 15 October 2025, Can the Richmond River be restored? - https://www.echo.net.au/2025/10/can-the-richmond-river-be-restored/
Richmond Landcare, 6 March 2026, Richmond Landcare Supports Call to Establish a Richmond River Commissioner - https://www.richmondlandcare.org/post/richmond-landcare-s-call-to-establish-a-richmond-river-commissioner
