By Charlene Macaulay
Werribee South farmers have expressed frustration about the ongoing struggles facing Melbourne’s foodbowl.
The farmers, who have all asked not to be named, told Star Weekly they’re frustrated about receiving only a fraction of the water they’re paying for and the high salinity levels in the water that they do receive, which are leading to no crops or smaller than usual fruit and vegetables.
“We can’t survive with this recycled water as it is,” one farmer said.
Added another farmer: “We’re poisoning our land.”
Another key concern is the lack of space to expand their farms. Some have leased farming land in other parts of Werribee South to grow their businesses.
But the farmers say they’re particularly frustrated that the government did not offer land from the former State Research Farm to allow them to expand.
“We’re the foodbowl, [but the government has] never, ever done anything in the last 50 years to help this district,” one farmer said.
Said another: “We are not viable in Werribee South anymore. There’s no room for expansion here.”
A spokeswoman for Southern Rural Water said Werribee South farmers had received only 20 per cent of their high-reliability water shares so far this season, “which is not uncommon for the start of the irrigation season”.
She said many farmers also had access to groundwater and recycled water, the latter of which had experienced increases in salinity in recent years. The spokeswoman said that the river water supplied was naturally salty due to the Werribee basin sitting on a bed of volcanic salt, but that overflow from the Melton Reservoir usually helped salinity levels to drop.
“Unfortunately, the dry conditions have meant no fill and spill of the [Melton] reservoir this year,” she said.
The state government did not respond to Star Weekly’s request for comment.
