THE Victorian Government has proposed a radical plan to shore up irrigators' water security.

Under the plan, once irrigators' allocations reach 30 per cent, half of any further inflows would be set aside in storage to cover the following season's distribution losses.

Once allocations reached 50 per cent, all further storage inflows would go to irrigators. 

Currently, no water is set aside to meet the following season's delivery losses until irrigators have gained 100 per cent of their allocations.

The plan, part of the Government's draft Northern Region Sustainable Water Strategy, says implementiation of  the set-aside reserve plan would dramatically slow allocation once it hit 30 per cent in dry seasons.

However, Department of Sustainability and Environment modelling shows a set-aside reserve on the Goulburn system would:

Eliminate the risk of irrigators starting each season without any water.

Ensure irrigators had access to unused (carryover) water from the previous season.

Raise the minimum February allocation (near the end of the season) from zero to 10 per cent, based on a continuation of the low inflows of 1997-98 to 2006-07.

However, establishing a set-aside reserve on the Murray system does little to eliminate the risk of zero allocations or ensure carryover water can be delivered next season.

The draft strategy states: "none of the options modelled for the Murray system eliminated the risk of zero allocation years, assuming a repeat of the past decade's low inflows.

"This is largely because system commitments on the Murray (including flows to South Australia) are larger than on the Goulburn."

However, shortening the season and changing the way in which water corporations manage the Murray system to reduce operating losses means the number of zero allocation years on the Murray could be cut from 16 to less than five.

The northern region takes in key agricultural and urban centres including Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura, Swan Hill, Wangaratta and Wodonga as well as some of Victoria's most important river systems including the Murray, Goulburn, Campaspe, Loddon and Broken.

Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding said the draft SWS was a 50-year plan on how water could be managed to ensure continued prosperity in the northern region.

The draft strategy is available at our water and submissions can be made until December 12.