MURRAY Valley irrigation communities have rejected the Murray Darling Basin draft plan outright.

Emotions boiled over at a Deniliquin basin plan meeting today, culminating in protesters using a giant woodchipper to shred copies of the draft plan.

They called upon Federal Water Minister Tony Burke for commonsense and practical solutions.

The crowd, estimated at almost 3500, packed the Deniliquin racecourse, many wearing black armbands to "mourn'' basin communities.

Deniliquin streets were barricaded and three quarters of local businesses closed in a silent protest.

The scenes followed on the heels of yesterday's meeting at Griffith where protesters shouldered a coffin before a 7000-strong crowd.

The Deniliquin meeting unanimously voted to reject the basin plan outright, passing a resolution calling for the 2007 Water Act to be amended.

Murray Darling Water Council members branded the plan "a bloody mess'', demanding the resignation of all MDBA members.

Frustrated farmers and business owners implored Victoria and NSW governments withdraw from the plan until a new authority was in place.

Speakers blasted the plan for creating "communities lacking in self confidence and certainty''.

Under the draft basin plan, the NSW Murray Valley is facing a 29 per cent reduction in water use.

The draft proposes a 68-gigalitre reduction plus a portion of the 971-gigalitre shared downstream component.

The MDBA estimates the gross value of production in the NSW Murray region will be reduced by more than 20 per cent or $92 million.

According to the Murray Group of Concerned Communities, that equates to $2788 a person.

Chairman Bruce Simpson said the management of water currently in environmental holdings needed to be assessed and reviewed.

Mr Simpson said the government and MDBA needed to monitor the delivery of environmental water and the achieved outcomes.

"They need to fully account for all current and agreed environmental works and measures projects, and model to those flow regimes instead of overbank flows,'' he said.

Water4Food chairman Terry Hogan said jobs would be lost, businesses would fail and communities shrink under the draft plan.

"This is one of the most significant days you will experience because if this draft plan goes through in its current form, it will change our lives forever,'' Mr Hogan said.

"We have got to fight like we never have before.''

Finley High School principal Bernie Roebuck said uncertainty over the basin plan had resulted in a decline in student numbers by 40 per cent across the valley.

"It is not acceptable to be treated as a rural underclass - we are not second rate,'' Mr Roebuck said.

"I implore you not to sell us down the drain, this issue needs serious consideration.''

Southern Riverina Irrigators chairman Ted Hatty said irrigators were outraged at the lack of action to address the triple bottom line.

Mr Hatty said the draft plan was driven by flawed assumptions and science.

Murray Irrigation chairman Stewart Ellis said half of the region's production base was set to be lost under the plan.

"Unfortunately this draft plan has an unpleasant stench to it,'' Mr Ellis said.

"We were promised a more balanced plan, I'm certainly not seeing it.''

Authority chairman Craig Knowles reiterated his bias towards infrastructure investment.

Mr Knowles said the draft plan was not a fait accompli.

"You have given us the stick today and good on you for doing it,'' he said.

"Let's keep working to make it better.''

Deniliquin mayor Brian Mtisch told Mr Knowles the Murray Valley was resilient but had reached its "elastic limit''.

Mr Mitsch said the biggest rice mill in the southern hemisphere at Deniliquin was at risk under the basin plan.

"One gigalitre of water applied to a rice crop produces four million serves of rice on the table,'' he said.

"We have the ability in this basin to feed those people and we have to be very careful how we go about that.''