The NSW Farmers' Association says the purchase of environmental water by the Federal Government is dominating the reform agenda at the expense of a balanced and coordinated approach to the water reforms.
Instead, it wants a greater emphasis on investing in water infrastructure to reduce waste and thus allow water to be returned to the environment without jeopardising production.
"We are concerned that the ‘Water Entitlement Purchase Program’ and the ‘Infrastructure Program’ are not being run together, or in a coordinated way," Association president Jock Laurie said.
"It is imperative that these two programs are synchronised, and to do this, we would recommend that the Australian Government adopts the socio-economic recommendations of the Hyder Report."
The Hyder Report recommended undertaking economic modeling of direct farm and flow-on impacts on the water market and the region as a result of the water purchasing program.
"We want the Government to immediately undertake this modeling as a guide to achieving optimal outcomes for both water purchases and investment in infrastructure," Mr Laurie said.
"There are a number of worrying trends that we believe need to be addressed, one of which is the withdrawal of funding from on-farm water efficiency programs.
"We believe on-farm efficiency should be a high priority and we call for targets for water to be saved from both on-farm and off-farm infrastructure."
Email a friend