News Cr Bill Moar says studies have found 400 to 500 gigalitres of water was used in the Swan Hill area to generate more than $1 billion in produce. AUTHORITIES should use available environmental water before demanding or buying more from irrigators – that was the message from this week's Swan Hill Rural City Council meeting. Cr Bill Moar said 2,888,551 megalitres of water had already been bought for the environment under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and Victorian irrigators had contributed more than their share, while one million megalitres of environmental water sitting in the Eildon, Hume and Dartmouth dams could not be used.

https://www.theguardian.com.au/news257/push-back-on-buybacks

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