A peak lobby group, representing 1600 farmers in the Murray Valley, says it's withdrawing its financial support for the NSW Irrigators’ Council.
Southern Riverina Irrigators is made up of five landholder associations in the Murray Irrigation Limited area of the NSW southern Riverina.
SRI chairman Chris Brooks said it had withdrawn support, worth $65,000 a year, from the peak irrigators’ body.
“We thought our funds would be better invested in the southern basin, joining the likes of the irrigators in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District,” Mr Brooks said.
“These guys (NSW Irrigators’ Council) are not making any contribution to the southern Murray-Darling Basin Plan. They’ve done a marvellous job for the northern basin, but we need a body that is speaking on our behalf.”
He said 82 per cent of water recovery, under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, had come from the south.
“And a hideous amount is still going down the Murray to South Australia.”
“There was 40 per cent of the water coming down the Darling for South Australia, now with floodplain harvesting, apart from the 2016 flood, it's been zero, for the past five years.
He said in the southern basin water was fully metered.
“Irrigators are very accountable for every megalitre of water, which goes onto each farm and the water rights they have to pay for.”
“In the north, they just guts out on it; they have unfettered access to flood plain harvesting.
‘We wonder why there is no water flowing down the Darling, yet we have a flood going down the Murray, creating environmental damage.”
“There is just such a disconnect.
“These blokes didn’t make any representation in regards to our issues, so our growers should invest those funds in fighting for our issues.
“GMID irrigators are more relevant to us.”
“I’ll be asking the Goulburn Murray and Murrumbidgee irrigators if they want to work with us.”
He said members would decide how the $65,000 in fees, currently paid to the NSW council, would be spent.
“‘We’ll discuss that in due course,” Mr Brooks said.
NSW Irrigators’ Council chief executive Luke Simpkins said he was awaiting formal advice from SRI that it was resigning its membership.
He said he also wanted to know if the decision was the view of all members.