Farmers Raise Alarm as Governments Divert Water Supply for Environment and Indigenous Use

Rural Victorians are facing pressure on multiple fronts over access to the precious resource.

A small patch of water at Lake Wetherell in the Darling River area in Menindee, Australia on Aug.14, 2019. Mark Evans/Getty Images

Farmers in regional Victoria and South Australia are warning of one of the worst droughts in decades, blaming dry weather, rising water prices, and government policies diverting water away from food producers.

“What’s really causing ... damage is the lack of water going around,” said Jonathan O'Neill, commercial manager of Waterfind, in an interview with The Epoch Times.

“We’ve had very dry spells in South Australia and Victoria, which has put a lot of pressure on farmers and communities.

“That’s because if farmers don’t make an income, then the communities struggle too.

“Certain industries are doing well, and other industries are going through harder cycles, like wines, grapes, and vineyards, where the cost of buying water in a very dry year is expensive.”

Waterfind is an Australian-owned and operated family business, specialising in water brokering, consulting, and transfers.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy believes water buybacks for environmental reasons and the allocation of water to Indigenous land owners are other issues compounding the challenges that farmers face.

“If you sell [water] to the federal government as environmental water, it leaves the market. And that’s the bigger impact on farmers. The pool of available water to be bought is made smaller, which drives up the price.

Water Reserves Entitlement a Big Debating Point

In October last year, the Allan government announced that it transferred a 1,405 megalitre water licence from the former Amcor paper mills to the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation for cultural use.

The state government said it supported traditional owners to self-determine the use of returned water consistent with its water access roadmap.

“This transfer of 1,405 megalitres in the Birrarung will support Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Traditional Owners to access and manage water for spiritual, cultural, environmental, social and economic purposes,” Minister for Water Harriet Shing said.

Since 2021 and up to this announcement, Victoria had returned about 6,605 megalitres of water to traditional owners across the state.

But Leahy said governments needed to show caution when determining water allocation to avoid dangerous precedents.

“I’ve had to buy my own farm, water, and we’ve worked hard to get where we are,” the Murrabit dairy farmer said.

“And someone else gets it given to them. It wasn’t my fault–it wasn’t my generation, my father’s or my grandfather’s generation that was part of that [history of conflict between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians].

“There’s nothing to stop them from doing it themselves, as I have.”

Concerns About Federal Water Buying Too

In early June, the federal Albanese government acquired 13,114 megalitres of Goulburn water across 37 separate parcels, paying $4,810 per megalitre–well above the seasonal market average of $3,800.

This cost taxpayers a total of $63 million.

“This is a clear example of the Commonwealth using its buying power to outbid farmers and inflate the price of water, the very lifeblood of our food production system,” Leahy said in a statement at the time.

“It’s appalling. This not only puts farmers under financial pressure, but also undermines the integrity of the water market.

“There’s been no explanation from the government about how or where this water will be used.”