A BACCHUS Marsh irrigator is believed to be the first person to receive a jail sentence for stealing water.
Domenico Sgarbossa, 68, was handed a one-month prison term suspended for a year after he pleaded guilty to illegally taking water.
It was his fourth offence.
Sgarbossa was also ordered to pay court costs of $3000.
Southern Rural Water staff had discovered a bore illegally harvesting water when they visited the property in February.
Sgarbossa had no authority or licence to take or use groundwater.
Staff estimated Sgarbossa had extracted 8.8 megalitres of water from the bore.
SRW Groundwater and Rivers Manager Craig Parker said SRW encouraged members of the public to report breaches of the Water Act.
"Given that there is so little water available, we rely on farmers to do the right thing so that we can protect water supply for everyone,'' Mr Parker said.
Bacchus Marsh has had consecutive water allocations of less than 10 per cent.
Last season extra water was taken from the Macalister Irrigation District to give to the Bacchus Marsh district.
