Fish Friendly Water Extraction Project

Overview

Native fish populations in the Murray–Darling are in serious decline — up to 97 million fish a year are lost to irrigation pump intakes alone. The Fish-Friendly Water Extraction project, delivered in Queensland by Southern Queensland Landscapes, installs modern fish screens on irrigation pumps to protect the fish while letting farmers keep pumping.

I was commissioned to make a five-minute flagship film and ten one-minute participant portraits, profiling the farmers who agreed to install screens on their properties. I've been working on it for over two years, travelling across south-west Queensland — onto private properties, alongside pump stations on the Condamine and Macintyre. I work alone, or with one other person. No script, no lights. A conversation, a question, and time enough for the farmer to answer it their own way.

The project lead hired me first for a single round of farmer interviews, then extended the engagement into a two-year documentary covering the whole program.