Politicians, multinational companies, and foreign investors are buying up Griffith's water assets, but nobody knows exactly who or in what quantities.
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That could change under proposed plans for a National Water Register being pushed by Member for Murray Helen Dalton.
The register would be a public record of who owns what, information that "governments have kept secret from us for years" according to Mrs Dalton.
So-called "secret" water trading deals have been done under the table for 15 years, ever since land and water assets were separated back in 2004.
It's led to a speculative market and skyrocketing water prices which, Mrs Dalton suggests, has been a good deal for politicians with water holdings and not so good for Griffith farmers.
"For those federal and state politicians who own and trade water purely as an investment, it is in their best interests, financially, to have the resource scarce thereby manipulating water for personal gain," she said.
"Big corporates and governments are buying, hoarding and trading river water - in secret - pushing small-time producers out of business and wrecking our river system."
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With MIA farmers still looking down the barrel of zero allocations, many will have to buy high security licences or turn to the ever-more expensive temporary water market.
But that has often proved prohibitively expensive for the more water-intensive industries; many Griffith cotton and rice farmers say they have no idea whether they'll be able to plant crops at all this season.
It's a "disaster", Mrs Dalton says, and she points the finger of blame at politicians who are either "turning a blind eye or are actively contributing to the degradation of our environment and communities".
Mrs Dalton admitted that she too owned water assets, but said that politicians like her should be forced to be more transparent about their potential conflicts of interest.
"I'm calling for NSW government to take the lead and establish a publically-available national water register," she said.
"It is now up to us to take all necessary steps to right some of the wrongs of the past and literally clear the water."
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
