Internal briefings sent to State Water Minister Tim Holding last September listed "opportunities for local contributions" in communities affected by a plan the Government had announced in June — to pipe 75 billion litres of water a year from northern Victoria to Melbourne.

The list of opportunities for Government funding — revealed in briefings obtained through freedom of information by The Age — included grants to help develop new irrigation areas, a new environment/tourism centre for Yea, and a new walking and cycling "rail trail".

In April, Melbourne Water announced a $5 million package to help areas affected by the new pipe, including grants of between $2000 and $500,000 for community projects.

The funding list was provided to Mr Holding at the same time as he was briefed on entrenched and widespread anger in many areas of northern Victoria to the water pipe plan.

The plan includes a $750 million, 70-kilometre pipeline to be built from the Goulburn River to Sugarloaf Reservoir, to transfer water to Melbourne by 2010.

The water would come from water saved through a $1 billion upgrade to irrigation systems, with the same amount of extra water to be provided to irrigators and the environment.

Nationals Leader Peter Ryan said the briefings were "confirmation of what we suspected to be the fact" of the Government trying to buy local support for its controversial plan, but financial incentives were unlikely to alter public opposition.

"Country Victorians have always reacted strongly against the principle of 30 pieces of silver," he said.

Mr Ryan said he was not convinced the Government would build the pipe in the face of the strong opposition.

He said demonstrators opposed to the pipe were planning to meet again on the steps of Parliament on June 3.

Mr Holding said the water plan would help combat the effects on regional communities of "the worst drought ever".

The briefings also revealed tough conditions in some areas affected by the proposed pipe.

They noted a "high level of social disadvantage in the Upper Goulburn region" (with Murrindindi having the highest level of family food shortages in Victoria) and a "high level of depression … (particularly) on the land".