"It has been upsetting ... I suppose it's been my personal choice not to go fishing anymore ... It's been life-changing for me," the 50-year-old Menindee resident said.

Mr McCrabb was repairing irrigation systems for farmers toward Christmas in 2018 when he came to visit downstream of the Darling River and discovered that as a result of the prolonged drought at the time, water on the river dried up describing the number of dead fish he found "in millions".

It's something Mr McCrabb remembers vividly, even now as Menindee deals with rising floodwaters that could reach record-breaking levels on the weekend.

According to investigations by the Murray Darling Basin Authority on what is now known as "Menindee fish kill" during the drought, the estimates of dead fish species such as Murray Cod, silver perch, golden perch and carps ran up to three million.

During the prolonged drought from 2013 to 2019, the MDBA found blue-green algae and lack of rainfall caused the town's river system to dry up and the local fish population to dissipate beyond their control.

But Mr McCrabb, who is a member of the NSW Farmers' Association, said those in the region needed more potent action from government agencies directly managing the precious water resources in NSW.

"There was over-extraction of water from upstream of the river at the time in 2018 and 2019 for irrigating farms and industries, and we ran out of water because of that mismanagement. It was shocking," Mr McCrabb said.

Roughly four years have gone passed since Menindee Lake dried up and the Darling River meandering the Menindee township has recovered after the drought pattern ended and heavy rainfall from La Nina has battered the outback.

"We've certainly recovered with so much water on the river and the lake systems now but it will take decades to recover the lost fish species," Mr McCrabb said.

"Recovery is a fantasy word for us because we won't be able to recover lost Murray Cod that has been on the river for decades that we've lost in that drought."

The small outback town is currently dealing with flooding and the McCrabb's 20-acre property is backing along the Darling River.

The river was steady at 10.25m on Thursday afternoon but it could rise to 10.7m, above the 1976 record level, by the weekend.

"I don't think the water would get into our house even if the river rises above the gauge level," Mr McCrabb said.

"The three levees are holding up so we're on watch and act, and just helping to maintain the levees and keeping an eye out for others."

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Arthur Bunny's pub and restaurant on Yartla Street is one of two pubs in the township built in 1853 by the earliest settler Tom Paine.

According to Menindee's historical accounts, the British explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills came to Paine's original pub sometime in 1860 as they set off to cross the Gulf of Carpentaria looking for grazing land and gold.

Paine's original pub burnt in 1999 and its current owner, Mr Bunny, said the rebuilt building still holds so much history they are proud to keep retelling it, except they don't want a repeat of the story about their river drying up.

"The Darling River is the life of this town big time. It services our farming communities and the townships along the Darling and Murray river systems," Mr Bunny, a builder originally from Victoria, said.

"When these rivers and lakes are in trouble, as we have seen in the past, everyone will be in strife.

"At the moment, we've got way too much water extending all the way to the Murray River."