NSW irrigation farmers fear a proposal to put 300 billion litres a year of saved water back into the Murray River is doomed because the Rudd Government is giving priority to buying back water rights.
The Australian reports that farmers are offering to put all the water saved - the equivalent of half of Sydney's annual needs - back into the Murray in return for improvements to farm irrigation systems.
After months of negotiations with Water Minister Penny Wong, the NSW Murray irrigators are being advised their $1billion submission is likely to fail because the Government prefers to buy water rights from farmers rather than fund on-farm projects to cut waste.
In the budget, the Government estimated 2000 billion litres of water a year was lost in the Murray-Darling Basin because of inefficient water storage and delivery systems.
Senator Wong said at the time that $1 billion would be paid for the food bowl modernisation program in Victoria, and "similar projects will be developed in the basin and elsewhere".
The Government has allocated more than $3 billion over the next 10 years to buy back water rights, including $450 million for those in Queensland. While it will secure licences for 34.3 billion litres under its first $50 million buyback, the Government will acquire only 10million litres to put back into the Murray this year.
The five-point plan from Murray Irrigation Ltd, which represents irrigators over 750,000ha between Deniliquin and the Murray in southern NSW, is similar to the $1 billion Victorian scheme aimed at saving 225billion litres of water a year by improving irrigation channels, pipelines and preventing waste.
But the Victorian plan, agreed between the federal and Victorian governments, will only return 75 billion litres, with the rest being used for more irrigation.
Murray Irrigation chairman Stewart Ellis told The Australian yesterday that NSW farmers were extremely disappointed the $1 billion, 10-year plan appeared to be doomed.
Mr Ellis said the Government had indicated the cost of the plan was too high and that there was concentration on buying back water entitlement rights from farmers rather than on-farm water savings.
"We recognise we all have to make do with less water, but our concern is that the Government's emphasis is on buying water rights and not investing in on-farm water efficiency," Mr Ellis said.
"If water buyback is the sole answer to water savings, it will decimate food production and undermine food security."
Buying water rights from desperate farmers did not improve water efficiency and discouraged food production, Mr Ellis said.
Opposition water spokesman Greg Hunt, who has just travelled through the Murray-Darling region, said the Murray irrigation plan would deliver a "staggering" volume of water for the Murray system.
"This is real water, not air, which Penny Wong has been spending millions of dollars buying up recently," Mr Hunt said.
"To snub this project would be environmental vandalism. These are the kinds of proposals which the Government should be investing in, not just buying out farmers from their land."
The Liberal frontbencher said the Rudd Government needed to restore the Howard government's plans to spend $6 billion on water efficiency.
"If you are not serious about water infrastructure works, you are not serious about improving the health of the Murray," Mr Hunt said.
A spokeswoman for Senator Wong said last night the Government was discussing the proposal but no decision had been taken and the guidelines for funding qualifications were still being worked out.
In the May budget, Senator Wong said the Government would be "active in the water market, purchasing entitlements from willing sellers".
"Secondly, the Government will invest in more efficient infrastructure -- in partnership with state governments and landholders," she said.
