A group of frustrated Werribee South farmers have accused Southern Rural Water (SRW) and the state government of putting the horse before the cart by planning to upgrade the irrigation system for market gardens.
They made their claims in response to an article last month in Star Weekly, which reported SRW’s plan to upgrade the system from open concrete channels to pipes.
The farmers are calling on government agencies to secure their water first then supply the pipe network.
Nick Kusmanidis, whose family has farmed in the region for generations, said there was no water security. He said farmers received about 10 per cent of water rights, despite paying for the full 100 per cent.
He said if things continued this way, Werribee South farmers would not survive another 12 months.
“It’s got to the point that staying here is unsustainable,” Mr Kusmanidis said. “We receive little water and what we do is a combination of river, recycled and bore water. It’s too salty and it’s killing our crops.”
Warren Velisha, a third-generation Werribee South farmer, said since using the water he had noticed “a lot more disease” in his crops.
Both farmers said there had been no consultation about the planned upgrade and, if water security couldn’t be guaranteed, they wanted the green wedge on their land lifted so they could reinvest in better farming areas.
Water Minister Lisa Neville said upgrading the system was one way of improving security. Reducing the salinity at the source of the recycled water would be another focus, she said.
Southern Rural Water managing director Clinton Rodda agreed allocations were low and river water salinity higher than usual.
