A critically endangered species Notopala Sublineata Sublineata (Darling River Snail) presents unique challenges for designers to consider and test when constructing new modern fishways. Creative thinking, ingenuity and engineering has been used to find the balance between current modern fishway design and the unique needs for this species including habitat offset requirements. Considerations of future opportunities and constraints of creating habitat for this species within effective and suitable fish passage infrastructure. How these modern fishways may be able to provide a habitat for this critically endangered species and the lessons learnt to date will all be discussed and an update of the ongoing trials and projects will be presented.