FRUSTRATION at the Federal Government’s environmental water buyback prompted Coleambally irrigator Robert Black to offer his entire district and its 600 gigalitre water holding for sale for $3.5 billion.

The Coleambally Irrigation Co operative chairman said this week shutting down one entire district made more sense than the “swiss cheese effect” of the purchases occurring under the buyback plan that were eating away at community viability.

He said his offer – never meant to be serious - was based on a cost of $4000 a megalitre for the water, reflecting its true value to farm businesses rather than the market value the Government was seeking to pay, and $1b for the town’s residents, whose businesses and houses would be valueless without a community to support them.

“We have farmers under stress selling to the highest bidder, which is the Government,” he said.

“I could name 10 farmers that have left Coleambally in the last 12 months. In two years it might be 20 to 60 farms.

“Every time we lose two or three farms we lose a business, or a school teacher, hopefully not a doctor. Two machinery distributors have closed and two fuel distributors, the bakery has closed.

“It has a snowball effect. It impacts on the shire and the whole town is hurting.”

For full story see Stock & Land, September 4.