Comment
THE Victorian Farmers Federation has led the discussion on the need to move away from on-farm water projects.
Some of these projects require farmers to give up water savings to the environment, thereby reducing the overall amount of water which is then made available to agriculture.
That is why we are pleased the Commonwealth Government has listened and has taken action to wind up its Water Efficiency Program.
This move will give farmers and farming communities the confidence to continue producing the best quality food and fibre.
But there is more work to do.
Last week the VFF met with Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt in Echuca to advocate on behalf of Northern Victorian irrigators focusing on the problems of water recovery under the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
We talked about the need for greater flexibility in the Sustainable Diversion Limit projects, greater focus on deliverability issues and the need to measure environmental health in more ways than just through increased flows.
We also expressed concern about the government's remaining $60 million for on-farm water recovery projects and requested further information from the minister.
The VFF does not believe any on-farm recovery is achievable without breaking the government's own socio-economic criteria.
Finally, we made it clear that if the government wants to continue to help rural communities, then it must provide real certainty that buybacks cannot occur by enshrining it in legislation.
Continued action from the Commonwealth is needed to help give confidence back to farming communities in Victoria who have already sacrificed so much.
