In the sun-scorched Riverina, water is more precious than gold – and just as deadly. District Superintendent Sandy Pelham arrives in Wagga Wagga to find a community torn apart by megadrought, where wealthy cotton growers thrive while farmers abandon their land and towns survive on bottled water. As Pelham investigates a surge in methamphetamine production, he uncovers a web of corruption that leads straight to his predecessor.

When Commonwealth Water Security officer Mick Darby joins the hunt, they discover cotton baron Hardyn Brack's illegal water empire is slowly choking the life from the Murray-Darling Basin. But they're not alone – Lucas, a tech-savvy activist turned meth cook, is plotting his own violent revenge. In a land where water means life, three men are on a collision course that will determine the future of Australia's most precious resource.