The claim is sure to anger Victorian irrigators who fear losing allocations in order to supply Melbourne with water under the State Government's pipe plan.

Mr Holding says the Liberal/National Coalition and protest group 'Plug the Pipe' have shown they are not interested in providing water security for all Victorians.

The also argue that the pipe will exacerbate the problems being experienced in South Australia, where thousands of people protested on the weekend to save the lower lakes.

"The Lower Lakes of the Murray River need over 1000 billion litres just to survive," he said.

"This is water that is just not available so for people to try to link a pipeline that will provide water security to Melbourne to the current state of the Lower Lakes is downright dishonest.

"Last week the protestors said we were building a white elephant and today the project is responsible for damaging the future of the Lower Lakes of the Murray River. They cannot have it both ways."

Mr Holding said stressed rivers, including the Murray River, and farmers would share in 350 billion litres a year as a result of the $2 billion Food Bowl Modernisation Project, while Melbourne would receive 75 billion litres of water savings from the project.

Mr Holding said that the environmental approvals process for the Sugarloaf Pipeline is the most rigorous ever undertaken for a pipeline in Victorian history.

"An independent panel considered all potential environmental impacts including any downstream impact on the Goulburn River and has given the project the green light," Mr Holding said.