The State Government has flagged significant changes to the way water is managed in northern Victoria, as it aims to support struggling irrigators and dairy farmers, hit by drought and high water and fodder prices.
Water Minister Lisa Neville and Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes attended a dairy industry roundtable in Tatura, to hear from the community, local farmers and the water sector.
They discussed potential changes to water market rules and transparency.
Ms Neville said it was a great opportunity to sit down and discuss, with local farmers, how the dairy and irrigation industries could be supported, through ongoing dry conditions and high prices.
"Getting the water market transparency and trading rules right is a key part of that, along with making as much water as possible available to irrigators in northern Victoria in a way that protects the surrounding environment," Ms Neville said.
Knowing who is buying and selling water was an increasingly important issue for irrigators.
Ms Neville said she had asked her department to look at the options and benefits of a completely transparent water trading system, to provide confidence that the market was working for irrigators and not being distorted.
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The government had also asked for inter-valley trade rules to be reviewed, following concerns about high volumes of trade and environmental damage to the Goulburn River.
The work would be completed by the end of July,
Ms Neville said the government had recently been working on how to manage increasing demand from the Lower Murray region, with advice expected to be provided by the end of June.
This included potentially curbing new extraction from the Murray River, which had been called for by various industry bodies.
With irrigators set to receive their share of recovered water at the end of the Connections Project, a consultative committee would be set up mid-year to recommend the best mechanism to distribute the irrigators share.
The committee will be chaired by former Victorian MP and VFF president Paul Weller, and include representatives from the irrigation sector.
The government was also providing assistance through a $45 million drought package, making extra water available where possible and ensuring flexible hardship programs were accessible through water corporations.
An extra $2.7 million would further support farmers experiencing dry seasonal conditions in northern Victoria with more financial counsellors on the ground, the re-establishment of Rural Skills Connect to train farmers off the farm, and further infrastructure grants to make farms more resilient to future dry conditions.
But State Opposition water spokesman Steph Ryan said after five years, Ms Neville was still talking about changes to help irrigators in northern Victoria, instead of getting on and making them.
"We've been warning the government about the impact of the loss of water from the Goulburn Murray irrigation district and the risks of demand from irrigators downstream outstripping the capacity of the Murray River to supply water for years," Ms Ryan said.
"Lisa Neville should get on and adopt proposals which have been put forward by the Almond Board of Australia and endorsed by other sectors to place a moratorium on new water licences for greenfield irrigation developments and a unified water register and clearance platform for greater transparency in the water market."
Ms Ryan said irrigators wanted Ms Neville to bring genuine assistance, rather than another talkfest.
"It shouldn't take a crisis before Labor is willing to act," she said.
"We have been warning the government for years about the impact of the loss of water from the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District and the growth in water extraction downstream of the Barmah Choke and Goulburn system."
