In the Kimberley water is plentiful - but in the city it is precious and political. Government minister Michael Money has cooked up a secret plan to bring water from the monsoonal north of Australia to the south. But he needs to find out what opposition he might face around the river valley. He sends his chief of staff Kate Kennedy - young, focused and well-versed in power play - and political fixer Jack Cole on a 'fact-finding' trip. Ex-greenie Dylan Ward is their guide; well-regarded by both the mining industry and Aboriginal elder Vincent Yimi, Dylan is unaware that he has been compromised until their journey takes some unexpected turns. But as they travel through the wild river country, Kate begins to see Dylan in a new light. When she changes sides to be with Dylan and safeguard a precious and sensitive area that she has so quickly come to love, her political edge comes into play.