The Murray-Darling Basin's "cop on the beat" says the impact of floodplain harvesting in northern New South Wales will be "front and centre" as part of his inquiry into interstate water-sharing rules.

Key points: Mick Keelty's inquiry is looking at water sharing-arrangements between states

Mick Keelty's inquiry is looking at water sharing-arrangements between states Town hall meetings have been held in several locations, including Swan Hill, Deniliquin, Mildura and Renmark

Town hall meetings have been held in several locations, including Swan Hill, Deniliquin, Mildura and Renmark The tourism sector and irrigators have been represented in hearings

Former federal police commissioner Mick Keelty was urged to turn his gaze north, as he heard from farmers, environmentalists and business operators at town hall meetings in Mildura and Renmark this week.

Mr Keelty is investigating potential changes to interstate water-sharing rules but, as with most consultations and town hall meetings on Murray-Darling Basin issues, what he heard downstream was very different to the upstream.

At Mildura, not far from the junction of the Darling and Murray rivers, there was criticism of the NSW Government's failure to amend water-sharing rules in its northern catchments to ensure "river connectivity" was prioritised.

The inquiry is looking at interstate water-sharing rules. ( Flickr: Michael Storer )

Fingers were pointed at those harvesting water from floodplains in the northern catchments, which some said had reduced in-flows to the Darling River and, by extension, placed greater pressure on Murray River storages to supply downstream demand.

Irrigators on the Victorian side of the Sunraysia region also made clear they didn't want any changes to the way water allocations were determined within each state, preferring Victoria's "conservative" approach to remain in place.

Mr Keelty's town hall meetings in the lower Murray came after earlier meetings at Swan Hill and Deniliquin, where he heard from farmers coping without water allocations.

Tourism operators need a voice too

He started his tour of the basin aware of what he called "consultation fatigue", but in Renmark, Mr Keelty heard from some voices often drowned out.

Riverland tourism operator Tony Sharley said he had participated in all the consultation around the basin plan and had observed "a loss of confidence" in water management.

Renmark was filled to capacity with tourists in the 2019/20 peak holiday season. ( ABC News: Laura Collins )

But he said at water meetings, "The language that always seems to be used is the currency of firstly, the economy and secondly, the economy that's generated by irrigation".

"It seems like there are no other stakeholders anymore who are passionate or are engaged in this conversation," Mr Sharley said.

"I sense it's because when politicians and their minders come out to do consultation, their local member says, 'You should speak to so and so' or, 'You must speak to the irrigation trust because they are big water users'.

"I watch it … and think, 'Gee, how do I as a tourism operator in an eco-tourism business that relies on a healthy Murray River get to have a say in all of this?'

"Certainly, I feel that we need to be more inclusive with these processes."

In Renmark, Mick Keelty heard from some voices that often get drowned out. ( ABC News: Laura Collins )

Mr Sharley said tourism was worth more than $9 billion to the Murray-Darling Basin's economy and, "It all relies on a healthy river".

"Interestingly, that's about the same metric, same value as horticulture, irrigated agriculture," he said.

"These industries are on par and yet I don't see the tourism industry at the table in most of these discussions.

"The point I want to make is that tourism cannot grow if we keep over allocating and over extracting this river."

Go north, Keelty told

Irrigators from the lower Darling turned up to address Mr Keelty in Mildura, even as dozers worked to remove fruit trees on their farms about 100km away.

The small group of horticulturists near Pooncarie recently reached an agreement with the Federal Government that will see them exit the industry and hand back their high-security water licences, in exchange for a confidential compensation payout.

But they remain concerned the needs of their stretch of river is not getting enough attention.

"Part of the tri-state agreement that's only just being noticed now [is] how critical Queensland and the northern [NSW] rivers have been delivering water through Menindee," Rachel Strachan, who farms at Tulney Point Station, said.

"Us, who have lived on the lower Darling all our lives, are very aware that those flows coming through sustain not only our local towns but the whole pastoral industry, from Bourke through to Wentworth, which is completely overlooked in all these water discussions.

"And then you've got the environment, Indigenous water and everything else and, realistically, on the hierarchy, irrigation should come after all that."

Despite offering a caveat that, "You can't touch one part of this without impacting another", Mr Keelty said he would take the concerns on board.

"Floodplain harvesting is front and centre as part of this inquiry because it is reducing the inflows, and wherever you're going to have a reduced inflow or a no-flow in the Darling, you're going to put more pressure on the Murray," the inspector-general said.

Don't touch allocations

Rice growers in southern NSW and cotton growers in the north only irrigate in years when there is enough water for their general-security licences to receive an allocation.

This year, like the one before it, is not one of those.

Victoria — where a greater share of its irrigators need higher-reliability water — employs a different system that places greater importance on putting water away for the future.

A map of the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia. ( ABC News: Ben Spraggon )

While some NSW irrigators are hopeful Mr Keelty can come up with a way to increase the prospects of their general-security licences receiving an allocation, Richard Wells, a retired irrigator from Merbein near Mildura, says any changes, "could have huge ramifications" for those in Victoria downstream of Barmah.

"New South Wales have a slash-and-burn policy, especially with their annual croppers, where the [general]-security water is used," Mr Wells said.

"If the water is there, they use it, and if it's not there, they put the tractor in the shed, and that's been the policy for years. Whereas, in Victoria we have a conservative policy.

"Victoria has got some water tucked away for next year, but if the suggestions from the meeting in Deniliquin were to change our security, that would be the pits for Sunraysia irrigators who have had this conservative policy forever and a day."

Mr Keelty told the audience his inquiry, "clearly does not have the support of the states and territories" and acknowledged, "they don't want the water-sharing agreement to be touched".

But, without making promises, he's looking for improvements.