THE Federal Opposition's water spokesman, Barnaby Joyce, says allegations that Queensland and NSW farmers are stealing flood water otherwise destined for South Australia's Lower Lakes were a "blatant fabrication".
With inter-state water tensions sky high in the lead up to the release of new water use limits in the Murray Darling Basin, the outspoken Queensland Senator has called on those making claims in the Adelaide press last week to "tell us who it is and we'll press charges".
He said until such time as the allegations could be substantiated they should be treated as "total and utter rubbish".
Last week the Adelaide Advertiser published stories which said farmers north of South Australia had diverted enough water into their own private dams to "more than fill the dying Lower Lakes".
It claimed the diversions had occurred by floodplain harvesting using "unmetered, unlicensed and often illegal channels, levy banks and other earthworks to trap floodwater and divert it to private dams".
The National Water Commission last month revealed the total volume of water unaccounted for as a result of land use activities outside current water entitlement regimes and planning frameworks was equal to almost one quarter of all the entitled water on issue in Australia (not just in the Murray Darling Basin).
It found overland flows (floodplain harvesting) on average accounted for 900 gigalitres a year.
The report, "Surface and/or groundwater interception activities: initial estimates report" revealed a combined annual volume of 5600 gigalitres is intercepted, which, on top of the overland flows, also includes forestry plantations using approximately 2000GL/year, farm dams 1600 GL/yr and stock and domestic activities 1100 GL/yr.
But the Murray Darling Basin Authority has estimated that following the big succession of floods which swept through Queensland and Northern NSW over the past summer, up to 1500GL was diverted from rivers and floodplains into private irrigation storages in southern Queensland and NSW.
This is despite their estimates that 6700GL went into the basin as a direct result of the flooding.
It's believed very little of those floods will make it to the mouth of the Murray, despite earlier interstate deals between South Australia and NSW to get more there.
With five marginal Federal seats in South Australia along the Murray, the issue of getting water to the mouth of the Murray has never been more political.
Liberal Senator for South Australia, Simon Birmingham, has been outspoken in recent months on the need to address the Lower Lakes in this election campaign, and there have been whispers that within the Coalition there is a real north-south divide on the Murray Darling Basin and how it will respond to the plan when it is finally released.
The Nationals recently passed a motion at their Federal Conference rejecting a commitment by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, for a referendum to enable the Commonwealth to take full control of the Murray Darling Basin.
But Senator Joyce rejected any suggested the Coalition was divided on the Murray Darling Basin.
"Everybody wants a solution to the shortage of water in the Murray Darling Basin, particularly in South Australia, and there are very strong feelings held about this by all our members who represent electorates in the Murray Darling Basin," Senator Joyce said.
"But this issue of water management is becoming clouded and sensationalised in the heat of an election campaign.
"The Government and some other special interest groups are trying to use this issue as some sort of wedge mechanism.
"But we're united on this, and we'll be united on how we respond to the plan, when it is finally released."
Senator Joyce said the Opposition would focus on a "triple bottom line" management approach to its own reforms in the Murray Darling Basin, arguing the environment needed an even weighting with social and economic concerns in the basin.
Independent Senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, has a private members bill before the Senate which, if passed, would see control of floodwaters handed to Canberra.
It's now highly likely that Bill won't be dealt with until after an election, which could see the politicking on the issue become even greater.
"The water from these major rain events must be fairly distributed by the Federal Government," Senator Xenophon said when he introduced the Bill in March.
"Under the current arrangements they simply fight it out amongst themselves and South Australia typically ends up at the end of the line with a begging bowl in hand.
"The current system of water allocation is fundamentally flawed.
"With one river system we need one set of rules and one umpire, and that umpire should be the Commonwealth Government.
"State Governments cannot be trusted to act in the national interest."
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