As one man's mission of walking more than 300 kilometres along the Murray River comes to an end, the two state farming bodies on either side of the river are also backing a basin plan change.
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But as NSW Farmers and the Victorian Farmers Federation jointly called on all Murray Darling Basin state governments and the commonwealth for the plan to be amended, a ministerial council meeting blocked another plan review.
Barham farmer and newspaper editor Lloyd Polkinghorne arrived in Albury on Thursday and will complete the final leg of his water journey to the Hume Dam wall on Saturday.
His message is simple: the basin plan has to change.
And for both farming body presidents, that is their goal too.
The meeting, just the second this year, delivered a commitment to delivering action for communities and irrigators, but said the time of more reviews is over.
"An alternative set of recommendations by NSW and Victoria calling for another review of the basin plan in 2022 was blocked by other basin governments with good reason," Water Minister Keith Pitt said.
"I could hear the groans go up in towns from Goondiwindi to Gawler at the suggestion of yet another review after a year which has seen a number of significant reports already released and at least seven more to come as part of statutory and other reporting processes.
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"They don't need another report telling them what they already know. They expect all governments to deliver real action in their best interests."
NSW Farmers pesident James Jackson said farming communities across the border hoped changes were implemented to the plan to inject confidence back into the regional economy.
"As the voice for farming communities across our nation's two biggest agricultural producing states, governments must take notice of our call to amend the basin plan," he said.
"Changes must be made to the basin plan to ensure farmers can once again farm with confidence and certainty, creating the jobs needed to lead Australia's COVID-19 economic recovery.
"Yet governments have not agreed to amend the plan to reflect this reality." VFF president David Jochinke said the plan was never to remain static. "We agree that key areas of the basin plan must be changed to provide certainty to our farming communities," he said.
