THE engineering profession's peak body has labelled the north-south pipeline "odd" in its latest appraisal of Victorian infrastructure.

Engineers Australia last week released its latest report card on Victoria's infrastructure - the first since its inaugural report in 2005.

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It found the state of Victoria's rail freight network so poor it merited no more than a D rating and gave a C to the state's irrigation infrastructure.

And while it made only passing reference to the pipeline, Engineers Australia spokesman Prof John Wilson told The Weekly Times it was "a bit odd in some ways to take water out of one region back down to Melbourne".

Prof Wilson also said the Victorian Government's desalination plant was "not the optimum solution" to the state's water crisis.

"We got to a crisis point with water and the only way to get out of it was with a quick fix ... but we are doing it in a very energy intensive and expensive manner," he said.

The D rating for the freight rail network was given despite the Victorian Government completing a $107.4 million upgrade of several regional lines, as recommended in the Rail Freight Network Review.

And the C rating for irrigation comes despite the near completion of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline and the roll-out of the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project.

Professor Wilson conceded that irrigation and freight rail improvements had been made but "a lot of work" needed to be done.

Nationals deputy leader and Coalition water spokesman Peter Walsh said the report was a damning assessment of the Government's performance.

"The report shows Labor failed to act on the water crisis or to address ongoing water restrictions until it was too late," Mr Walsh said.

Treasurer John Lenders said the report card "failed to mention the tens of billions of dollars of massive infrastructure projects delivered or under way in Victoria".

He said Engineers Australia had produced an infrastructure wish-list that could only be achieved by a massive hike in debt and big tax increases.

Transport Minister Martin Pakula also said the recent Mildura Rail Freight Upgrade meant more than 70 per cent of this year's Victorian export grain harvest would be carried on rail.