It is becoming increasingly hard for the broader Australian public to accept the obstinacy of the Victorian Government and its irrigators, who continue to put themselves above the "national interest" with regards to the Murray Darling Basin.
Victorian Premier John Brumby has again refused to cooperate with Federal Government plans, this time for extra emergency water to be put in storage in case the dry runs into next year.
The NSW, South Australian and the ACT governments have all backed the plan to ensure that the water quality in the river is not compromised by salinity and algal blooms.
It is also of importance to the human needs of Adelaide residents, who in dry years draw the vast bulk of their water from the river.
But Mr Brumby has the backing of both the Victorian Coalition and local farmers, who say irrigators won't survive the drought if their allocations are cut further.
While it is understandable that Victorian irrigators do not want to make further sacrifices beyond the severely testing conditions they have been placed under, when push comes to shove the broader public will take the side of human need over that of crops and livestock.
This is especially so given that NSW, SA and the ACT have all accepted the report's dire recommendations.
However, there are two points which must be made, both of which are in favour of the Victorians.
Firstly, for SA to plead human water needs are at jeopardy if Victoria does not cooperate, it must first start behaving like there is a crisis.
Daily water consumption in Adelaide was 286 litres per person per day during the last financial year.
This compares to Brisbane, which last week recorded just 128l/person/day - equal to the lowest levels in the western world.
Such figures expose that more should be done by SA in reducing its own water consumption before asking others to do so on its behalf.
Secondly, if irrigators are asked to sacrifice further entitlements, particularly for permanent plantings, the Federal and State governments must front up with some serious compensation.
Irrigators who lose permanent plantings are facing years of struggle before they could hope to return to full and profitable production.
Convincing the nation of these two points will be critical if Victoria and its irrigators are to have their case taken seriously.
What do you think?
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