National Irrigators’ Council chief executive offfice Danny O’Brien visited Warren last week as part of a tour of the Lachlan, Macquarie and Namoi valleys.

Mr O’Brien said the tour was part of an ongoing engagement with local irrigators and an opportunity to raise awareness of the likely impacts of the new Murray Darling Basin plan which will be released in draft form this year.

It raises serious concerns about irrigator’s rights, Mr O’Brien said.

“I came to Warren to get to know the local issues of the Macquarie,” he said.

“We’re aiming to develop projects and policies to ensure the efficiency, viability and sustainability of Australian irrigated agriculture, and the security and reliability of water entitlements.”

While in Warren, Mr O’Brien visited the Macquarie Marshes, and met with local irrigators and the a Macquarie Food and Fibre executive.

“The management of the marshes is important. Saving them is not just about getting more water though,” he warned.

“Things like land management practises and provision of infrastructure to assist in the delivery of water is all important as well.

“The best thing we can do is make the Government understand the importance of a balance.

“We understand they want to support the environment, and of course we as irrigators do too.

“However, the needs of the environment must be balanced with the needs of producers of food and fibre and with irrigators.”

Since the tour, Mr O’Brien has taken up the lack of balance with the Federal Government.

“If the Government’s going to take water, they need to try to help farmers achieve their same efficiency levels in different ways”.

He also said that new sustainable diversion limits need to be devised, because the suggested limits

will drastically cut the amount of water available to irrigators in the future.