THE sweaty stench of desperation has started to drift down the corridors of No. 1 Treasury Place.

The Victorian Government is clambering to find water to fill its controversial north-south pipeline.

But instead of maintaining some transparency on the issue, Water Minister Tim Holding is secreting water away in hollow logs.

There's the 20,000 megalitres of "estimated" water savings, which the Victorian Nationals exposed a fortnight ago.

Then last week's edition of The Weekly Times reported on another 12,000 megalitres it found secreted away by Mr Holding in another hollow log that once supplied Wimmera Mallee towns and farms with water.

The Government's strategy of hiding the facts from the public is absurd.

Victorians - irrigators, regional towns and Melburnians - deserve better.

It's time we had some transparency in this debate, even if it results in "negative" publicity for the Government.

Many Victorians may scream about 10 billion litres being "stolen" from the Thomson River or 12 billion from the Wimmera Mallee.

But would irrigators prefer to see the Government-unleashed Melbourne Water in the temporary water market to find water for 3.8 million people?

Irrigators are already feeling the impact of the South Australian Government's hunt for 60,000 megalitres this season as part of its 200,000 megalitres long-term buy-up for Adelaide. Temporary water prices are clearly inflated.

As for the Melburnians who scream about water being stolen from the environment, maybe someone should point out what it's like be unemployed because the industry you work in has been forced to cut production due to water shortages.

Irrigation industry leaders are all too keenly aware of a key set of facts - and the politics - which sit squarely in the back of their minds.

Goulburn's two main storages - Lake Eildon and Waranga Basin - currently hold 942,668 megalitres, 70 per cent of which will be used to supply about 8000 water users, with 3200 irrigators using most of the water.

About 140,000 megalitres of this water will be used to cover channel losses, with another 214,000 megalitres needed to cover storage and river losses. In contrast, Melbourne's 3.8 million residents have just 541,688 megalitres in storage.

Put the facts on the table, Mr Holding.