THE Snowy River's flow will be capped at 4 per cent of its natural flows again this season.

The irony is that while the Murray Darling Basin enjoys its best inflows in a decade, the Snowy River will receive just a trickle on the 10th anniversary of the inter-government deal to "rescue" the national icon.

The nature of the deal struck between the Federal, Victorian and NSW governments means the river flows and its communities' expectations have repeatedly been eroded

It's clear the NSW Government has exploited loopholes in the Snowy agreement and ignored requests from the scientific community and the Federal and Victorian governments for a better deal on reviving the river's flows.

It appears the Snowy has become the forgotten river, tucked away in the distant corners of the state and our political leaders' minds.

Yet this is the river that delivered power to the Labor Party in Victoria in 1999, through its commitment to East Gippsland Independent Craig Ingram.

The Snowy River sits in the crucial Eden-Monaro federal electorate, held by the Parliamentary Secretary for Water, Mike Kelly.

The seat has long been regarded as a barometer of political change: whoever holds Eden-Monaro holds government.

Mr Kelly didn't even bother responding to The Weekly Times' request for comment on reviving the Snowy River.

It appears Mr Kelly simply bows to his senior Parliamentary colleague from South Australia, Water Minister Penny Wong, who has dismissed retiring the Snowy's debt.

The people living in Mr Kelly's electorate need to think long and hard about how the Snowy has been treated in contrast to the $12.9 billion the Federal Government has thrown at reviving the Murray Darling Basin's environmental flows.

The political priorities of our leaders need to be re-adjusted.

Ultimately, it's up to the voters of the Snowy River's communities to demand greater action by posting a message in the ballot box at this year's Federal and Victorian elections.