THE GRIFFITH community is outraged after Opposition Water Minister Tony Burke suggested more water needs to be recovered through the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
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Last week, Mr Burke said the federal government should increase the plan’s budget to ensure an additional 450 gigalitres of water can be recovered.
This comes after Agriculture and Water Minister Barnaby Joyce said the 450GL promised to South Australia could not be achieved with the $1.7 billion allocated.
Griffith Deputy Mayor and chairman of the Build More Dams Committee, Dino Zappacosta, said it is impossible to send high volume flows downstream without significant impacts.
"It is absolutely ridiculous to be throwing more money into buying more water for the environment when farmers are crying out for more water,” Cr Zappacosta said.
"I am personally totally against farmers having to sell their water, the irrigation water and the water in the dams and rivers particularly the Burrinjuck Dam was specifically put there for agricultural purposes,
"If water is wanted for the environment then perhaps the government needs to consider building a dam specifically for the environment.”
Cr Zappacosta said Mr Burke needs to consider the results from the Northern Basin Review, which resulted in a recovery reduction of 70 GL.
"I think we should look at the reasons in that review and perhaps it will be realised the 450GL is not needed at all...the northern basin has shown they can not extract any more water without severely impacting the triple and quadruple bottom line and it is the same here in the south," he said.
Cr Zappacosta said farmers have sacrificed their water entitlement for the past ten years and they can’t afford to sacrifice anymore.
President of Griffith Business Chamber Paul Pierotti said the government could not afford reasonable compensation for everyone who will be affected by flooding if the flow targets are not reviewed.
“Barnaby Joyce correctly stated in November that there wasn’t ‘a hope in Hades’ of recovering the water through infrastructure with the $1.7 billion put aside,” Mr Pierotti said.
“How much money is our nation prepared to waste on this poorly developed Basin Plan, how many livelihoods is Mr Burke prepared to destroy.”
