An urgency motion presented on the final day of the NSW Farmers conference in Sydney has called for a Commonwealth royal commission into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (MDBP).

The motion was put before the conference by the association's horticulture committee chair Guy Gaeta and passed with a narrow margin 59-47.

"Like in the bank's case with the Royal Commission there were a lot of companies and a lot of people, including people in the Liberal Party saying there was nothing wrong and all of a sudden there's all this criminal [activity] exposed.

"If there's no problem with it, what have they got to hide?"

Barooga persimmon farmer Chris Stillard spoke in support of the motion, arguing a "looming disaster" was approaching if the dry conditions forecast for spring proved accurate.

"The Murray system has zero allocations for the second year in a row.

"We are going to see a dramatic increase in the price of water, it's going to cause a lot of angst and a lot of anger."

Eroding trust

Public trust in the MDBP has slowly unravelled in recent months.

Earlier this year, the South Australian Royal Commission reported findings of "gross negligence" and "maladministration" in the senior ranks of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, while a report from the Productivity Commission last year found a number of major water-recovery projects at serious risk of not being completed on time.

On Wednesday, a draft review from the Natural Resource Commission reported that the 2012 Barwon-Darling Water Sharing Plan was "in crisis".

"There is an urgent need to remake the plan so the current trend of a river system heading towards collapse is reset, and the river and its dependent species, communities and industries are put on a path towards long-term health and resilience," commissioner Dr John Keniry said in a statement.

NSW Farmers president James Jackson acknowledged the "deep frustration" regarding water policy in the state, which he believes is exacerbated by ongoing drought conditions.

"The MDBP is a complicated plan, it's got deals that were done at Federation overlaying science that's been done recently so it's a constantly evolving piece of work," he said.

"I don't think it's beyond review and the conference called for a royal commission … and so that's what we'll be pursuing."

North and South

A spokesman for NSW Farmers said discussions over the new policy would continue in coming days and weeks, likely through a re-established Water Taskforce.

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Many members who opposed the motion said they felt this would pit farmers and irrigators from the north and south against each other, but the priority for Chris Stillard is a "fair and equitable" outcome for all.

"The guys up north: they haven't been hit yet and when their rivers flow, I'd love for them to pump, because they've done it tough for so long, but I think they'll find that the plan will dictate that the water will have to go downstream," he said.