Agriculture
24 November, 2025
Feds chasing extra 130GL
THE FEDERAL Government last week announced its wants to drain another 130GL of water they can’t use from Southern Basin farming communities.
It will be the second water buyback in less than two years that could impact Loddon irrigation districts.
Victorian Farmers’ Federation says the latest water grab would take the total amount of water purchased from agricultural production to almost 1400GL.
Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Wattmade his announcement at the Murray Darling Basin Authority conference last Wednesday.
VFF Water Council chair Andrew Leahy said the minister’s decision was devastating news and showed “just how out of touch the Commonwealth is about the impacts of buybacks”.
“We’ve seen the devastation caused by previous buybacks, communities hollowed out, jobs lost, and food production capacity permanently reduced. It’s death by a thousand cuts,” he said.
“The dairy industry’s recent report showed that taking more water would cut milk production by 270 million litres and cost dairy processors up to $545 million each year”
“This latest move is unforgivable and will only worsen the relentless drain of water in Victoria’s irrigation heartland”, Mr Leahy said.
The Commonwealth has purchased around 600GL from Victoria already with a further 130GL set to come from the Southern Basin.
“It is unclear how much of the 130GL will be purchased from Victoria, but given Victoria has one of the highest reliability water products in the Basin, we no doubt will continue to be unfairly targeted, our water is like a magnet for Canberra”.