Foes or heroes- River campaigner Steve Posselt at Yarra Glen. 35028

By Kath Gannaway
THE successful move by the State Opposition and the Greens to block a regulation which would see water from the state’s north piped to Melbourne has been hailed as both an environmental victory, and as environmental vandalism.
The Opposition parties voted in the Legislative Council to disallow the government’s Bulk Entitlement (Eildon-Goulburn Weir) Conversion Further Amending Order 2009.
While Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding slammed the move as the Opposition parties putting politics before water security, others, including rivers advocate Steve Posselt, praised the collaboration, saying it would protect what little water remained in Eildon.
Mr Posselt paddled and dragged his kayak from Echuca to Melbourne in protest at the continuing degradation of Victoria’s river systems and the north-south pipeline.
The trip, which started on 1 August included a 66-kilometre overland stretch from the Goulburn along the Melba Highway shadowing the pipeline to Yarra Glen.
“This government plans to take 75 billion litres of water each year out of a river system that is dying from the mouth up,” he said.
“The water simply is not there.”
Mr Posselt, a water engineer, said government claims that the water savings could be made through water efficiency were flawed and challenged Mr Holding to an open forum pitting his expertise against the government’s experts.
Nationals leader Peter Ryan said the government’s proposed regulation broke three key promises, which would rob the Snowy and Murray rivers of critical water flow, and went against its promise of a 50/50 split between farmers and the environment from savings in the second stage of the Food Bowl Modernisation Project.
McEwen MP Fran Bailey said the vote was a win in a long campaign to protect what little water remains in the stressed Goulburn Murray system and went further calling for the abandonment of the pipeline project.
Mr Holding however said the move put the Food Bowl Modernisation project in jeopardy.
“Melbourne Water is contributing $300 million to the irrigation upgrades, but if they aren’t getting any benefit they are likely to be forced to withdraw funding,” he warned. “In the ultimate case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, they (the Greens) have voted to deny 75 billion litres of water to the environment, just so they can oppose water coming to Melbourne,” he said.