ELIZABETH JACKSON: Irrigators along the Murray Darling are reeling after suggestions they could have their water entitlements cut by up to 37 per cent.
Regional communities in the southern end of the Murray Darling Basin are bracing themselves for bad news.
Bronwyn Herbert joins us now from Griffith in south-western New South Wales.
Bronwyn you've been speaking to many farmers there in Griffith. What have they been saying to you about this?
BRONWYN HERBERT: Well I have been speaking with both farmers and the business community over the past couple of days.
And farmers, obviously there's a lot of angst and disappointment particularly with the suggested leaks of there being cuts between 27 to 37 per cent of current water entitlements.
Now small business owners like the newsagent are also reeling because of the flow-on effects to the community and to a town that really does rely on water and agriculture.
Because Griffith is a main city that takes in what's known as the Murrumbidgee irrigation area and this area doesn't have other major industries like a university or a big hospital. So water cuts like it has been suggested would cut very deep in this town.
And irrigators have known for a while that there is pressure on them to reduce their water use. And I spoke with farmer Rob Houghton from the nearby town of Leeton and he acknowledged that for too long there has been too much water taken out.
ROB HOUGHTON: There has been over allocation, that has to be addressed and we are certainly supportive of everyone working together to get a better balance.
But within that mix we need to look at the health of these communities that survive purely because there is water running through the veins of the area.
Coppied by http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s3032888.htm
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