THE push to expand Lake Buffalo to alleviate the strain on drought-stricken farmers on both sides of the border has been re-ignited by Victorian Nationals deputy leader and shadow water minister, Steph Ryan.
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Ms Ryan toured Lake Buffalo on Wednesday with the aim of reversing the Victorian Labor Government's hardline opposition to building dams and having the federal government's recently created National Water Grid Authority investigate its expansion beyond the first stage completed in 1965.
The Victorian Government already owns the land required for Lake Buffalo's expansion, but despite urgings over the years from local lobbyists the plans have sat on hold.
Under Ms Ryan's push, Lake Buffalo would expanded from 23.9 to 1000GL and the timing was right for a thorough investigation with the federal government having $3.5 billion available for new water infrastructure.
"But Daniel Andrews and Lisa Neville are trotting out Labor's long-held line that there are no new dam sites in Victoria and dams don't make it rain," Ms Ryan said.
"It's not about political expediency, but more an opportunity to investigate nation-changing infrastructure.
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"Let's stop thinking about Buffalo just in terms of creating new water entitlements because that is not going to happen under the basin plan.
"There is an opportunity here for irrigators in southern NSW, who are presently on zero allocations, irrigators in northern Victorian, who are deeply stressed and paying $900 per megalitre and improved reliability for South Australia's irrigators and the environment.
"All scientists are saying climate change is going to drive more extreme weather events where we have more intense rainfall and longer periods of drought so we need the infrastructure to be able to get us through."
An expanded Lake Buffalo could also generate renewable energy, Ms Ryan said.
Victorian water minister Lisa Neville said the projected didn't stack up.
"This dam has been proposed and rejected before," she said.
"Expanding Lake Buffalo would not create any new water.
"It would simply take it from somewhere else, either from farmers who currently rely on it or from the environment.
"New dams in the north would simply reduce reliability for irrigators and increase prices.
"It would also require changes to the diversion limits under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, which the Nationals agreed to.
"We need to make sure no more water is taken out of irrigators hands under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and focus on modernising irrigation infrastructure to minimise water losses."
Indi MP Helen Haines declined to state specifically whether she backed Big Buffalo, but in a statement said: "In a really challenging drought I understand that we'll be looking at all the options to ensure farmer, community and environmental security.
"Last week I called on the government to bring together key farm, climate, community, energy and rural health sector organisations to co-design a national agriculture and climate change strategy for the short, medium and long term."
Ms Ryan said Big Buffalo could be achieved through a tri-state agreement between Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
Also, substantial water savings could be made by expanding Lake Buffalo's storage capacity and reducing reliance on Lake Victoria near Wentworth where 130 gigalitres of water evaporated last year alone.
Investigation by the National Water Grid Authority would determine whether Lake Buffalo could be connected to Lake Nillahcootie between Benalla and Mansfield to overcome the capacity constraints of the Barmah choke.
A Lake Nillahcootie pipeline would result in water entering the Murray River upstream of Echuca and not down the Buffalo and Ovens rivers near Bundalong.
This would provide water security for irrigators and improve environmental outcomes by reducing peak flows through the Barmah choke.