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More than five years and $9bn since the basin plan began, the Murray-Darling river system is in crisis. In a series of in-depth features and articles this week, Guardian Australia will explore what’s gone wrong

Kate McBride stands on the banks of the Lower Darling river as it flows past her family property, Tolarno, south of Menindee in New South Wales. She surveys the stagnating waterholes that were once a river. They are turning an alarming shade of chartreuse, thanks to blue-green algae.

The sometimes mighty river has ceased to flow again this summer – an increasingly regular occurrence in these reaches of the Murray-Darling system.

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Andy Stirling and Phil Johnstone reply to criticism of their analysis of the government’s infatuation with nuclear power

Thanks to Mike Clancy (Letters, 2 April) for responding to our analysis that intense UK government attachments to civil nuclear power are (to a significant – but dangerously undiscussed – extent) aimed at supporting the national industrial base underpinning nuclear submarine capabilities. He accuses us of “speculation”, yet fails to address any of the strong evidence that we cite. We show at length that UK nuclear attachments do not reflect economic performance. A host of ways to manage intermittency are routinely priced at a small fraction of the growing cost advantage of renewable energy. As a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Council (itself with a dual civil/military remit), Mr Clancy could assist much-needed factual scrutiny by addressing the points we raise. As a union leader, he might help democratic debate by explaining why his own organisation – and UK unions more generally – are so much more supportive of jobs in the nuclear than in the renewable sector.
Professor Andy Stirling and Dr Phil Johnstone
SPRU, University of Sussex

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

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Two Suffolk punch horses are being put forward for a charity's breeding programme.

They were patrolling off the South Australian coast when they noticed something behind them.

Monash family appalled by Coalition's use of name to push "anti-science" and "anti-intellectual" arguments for technology of the "horse and buggy era."

Friends of the Earth demands the oil firm move away from fossil fuels to comply with Paris deal

The global flurry of legal campaigns against “big oil” has widened, with Royal Dutch Shell being threatened with legal action unless it steps up efforts to comply with the Paris climate agreement.

Friends of the Earth Netherlands on Wednesday demanded the Anglo-Dutch company revise plans to invest only 5% in sustainable energy and 95% in greenhouse-gas emitting oil and gas.

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Photographer Francesco Bosso travelled to Greenland to capture images of the melting icebergs, which he describes as ‘gems of nature in danger of extinction’. The results are presented in his new book, Last Diamonds

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Lune Estuary, Lancaster: Some oystercatchers piped the first bars of their call and then, as if a signal that dawn had broken, a curlew summoned sunrise

It was becoming light, but not light yet. Water, salt marsh, sky: these were names for things that did not exist in the dark before dawn. Then the glim of something, maybe a moon-piece, as befits the Lune, made its way in to where it was possible to look but not go. There was the cold, face-wash quiet of the air and the slight rub of dry sedge trodden on the road. There was frost, if that smells of silver. A spectral breath returned inside after exhalation, setting the mind afloat. There was a slow opening in the east and then the nets of river fog filled with gold.

As shoals of light swam through the air, the river and the land floated in banded layers of colour, none of which lasted longer than a few seconds. This was a weightless landscape, at liberty and so insubstantial that any ripple could disperse any or all parts of it to drift away in different directions. As the sky blued into being, a bow of geese flew northward and a jack snipe lifted from somewhere indefinable between marsh and water, jinking bat-like out of and back into the mist. Far off, some oystercatchers piped the first bars of their call and then, as if a signal that dawn had broken, a curlew summoned sunrise, its song a weir of keening but without grief.

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The City of Suzhou in eastern China has deployed a fleet of electric workboats powered by Torqeedo motors as part of a program to clean up its canals and waterways.

Will Tesla's improved Model 3 production stats keep the professional short-sellers at bay as new competitors loom?

Aim of Monash Forum may be to ensure renewable energy wins slowly enough that coal can earn one last payday.

Last week, Shell published a “radical” new climate change scenario, showing how the world could meet the “well-below 2C” goal of the Paris Agreement.

Greens accept carbon price won't happen any time soon, but call for coal and petrol cars to be phased out by 2030. Government also has intervention on its mind, and Turnbull has pleaded with AGL again to keep Liddell open, so he can keep the hard right at bay.

Police officers in South Australia had a close encounter with a great white shark while they were out on a routine operation checking boat registrations over the Easter break.

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Shark nicknamed ‘Noah’ gets between officers and fishing boat selected for random breath test

A great white shark swimming in one of Australia’s most renowned shark habitats interrupted a police operation on Saturday by serenely terrifying the officers.

The shark, dubbed Noah by South Australia police, glided in between a police dinghy containing two life-jacketed police officers and their intended target, a recreational fishing boat selected for a random breath test.

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The AEMC has expedited a new rule so that customers can start to benefit early from the demand management incentive scheme (DMIS).

Scientists have developed a fabric that generates electricity when stretched. Unlike most electronics, it works better when wet.

Baringa Partners, the specialist energy markets management consultancy, opens a permanent office in Australia to build on worldwide success.

Bowheads serenade each other off Greenland with a vast repertoire of improvised jazz-like song, study says

How do bowhead whales in the unbroken darkness of the Arctic’s polar winter keep busy during breeding season?

They sing, of course.

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A new study reveals the surprising complexity of bowhead whale song.