VICTORIA, Australia, Oct. 18, 2011 -- Over 214 gigalitres of water could be saved from a new deal that will see the Victorian and Federal Governments allocating AUS$1.2 billion to develop an infrastructure renewal project in Australia.
The agreement will see Victoria selling 102 gigalitres of water for environmental use to the federal government.
Irrigation upgrades will be rolled out over a seven year period to the Goulburn Valley food bowl, and Victoria's water minister, Peter Walsh, reportedly said that the deal will "spare irrigators from increases in water prices of between 25% and 45%".
However, according to ABC, theVictorian National Parks Association said the cost is too high. "The problem with this project is that it's extremely expensive water, it's three times the market price," Nick Roberts reportedly said.
"We could have either got three times the amount of water by using the market, or we could have spent a third of the amount of money and got the same amount of water."
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