Councillors last month blocked an application from Stanley’s Boyd Collins, who wants to extract groundwater from his property and transport it to Albury for bottled water.

Mr Boyd has not ruled out challenging the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which had been a successful move when Stanley’s other water mining point at Cue Springs was initially rejected by the council.

A report by development and community services director Mark Florence, to be presented to councillors at tonight’s meeting, recommended going to the Municipal Association of Victoria for support. He wants the MAV to conduct a research project, looking into how to protect water for agriculture.

“Council and the community are united in the view that the matter of water extraction, particularly in high class agricultural areas, should face greater scrutiny and articulation within the legislation,” the report states.

“Council contends that the issuing of a licence to extract water for commercial purposes, and the impact on agricultural activity, aquifer management, and community concern, should be better reflected in the legislation.”

Mr Florence argued MAV should advocate for council’s concerns and issues. 

“The extraction of water for commercial use is a matter which is causing significant concern within the community and council,” he said. 

It comes after Alpine, Indigo and Towong councils banded together last year in a push for the Victorian Water Minister to tighten the rules and better monitor and limit the impacts of water mining.