Drought-affected farmers in western Victoria will be forced to pay for water they have been accessing for free since the 1960s — all in the name of drought assistance.

As part of its drought package, announced in November, the State Government put money toward upgrading community bores and installing new standpipes across western Victoria.

The upgrades included electronic swipe card technology, to enable farmers to have direct access to the bores at any time of day or night.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 5 minutes 3 seconds 5 m West Wimmera Shire chief executive David Leahy, Mayor Annette Jones, GWM Water's Andrew Rose and Douglas farmer Don Ross ( Danielle Grindlay ) Download 9.3 MB

But in West Wimmera shire farmers already have direct access and do not need a swipe card, because the council has been picking up the bill for community bore water since the infrastructure was built.

Douglas farmer Don Ross said the bores were built to assist drought-affected farmers in the 1960s.

"That's what they were put there in 1967–68 in the drought years," he said.

"They were put down by the government, as long as it was maintained by the shire.

"It's not fair."

Under the new system West Wimmera council will no longer pay for the water and farmers will not have access without an account.

'Another hit' in the form of extra $100 weekly bill

Don Ross, who is working for a Harrow farmer, is making six or seven trips a week to cart about 45,000 litres of water.

Under the new system his boss will be hit with an extra $100 weekly bill.

Mr Ross agreed the water price tag did not seem large, but it was "another hit" in tough times.

"I'm also using between 170 and 200 litres of fuel a week," he said.

"Don't forget you've got my time, my wages, wear and tear in the vehicle; it comes into a lot of money."

Mr Ross said on any given day, at any given time, it could be guaranteed a truck would be lined up at community bores in Douglas and Harrow.

"There are so many of us we've made up our own type of roster system now," he said.

"Everyone needs it, the dams are completely dry.

"We'll just have to grin and bear it because we've got to have it, that's all there is to it, we can't have our stock dying."

When asked why ratepayers should continue to foot the bill on behalf of farmers, Mr Ross said farmers' struggles would flow down to small businesses and local families.

"If we have to get rid of our stock, the butcher shop meat is going to go up in price because they're going to have to access it from further afield," Mr Ross said.

"It will affect everyone in the long run."

CEO distances Council from farmer charges

West Wimmera Shire chief executive David Leahy said councillors did not vote to pass the cost over to farmers.

That, he said, was just a by-product of process.

There is nothing about the new technology that prevents Council from covering the cost, but Mr Leahy said that discussion had not been broached.

"What Council has done is provide the planning permits for a number of installations of standpipes across the shire that comes with the technology that does monitor it," he said.

"[Deciding whether Council should continue to pay] wasn't part of the business for the meeting."

Mr Leahy rejected suggestions the topic had been "brushed under the carpet".

Upgrades welcomed

Despite the extra charges for farmers, upgrades to community bores and the installation of new standpipes has been welcomed by West Wimmera communities.

Firefighters will be given their own key to the bores, allowing them unlimited access to water in emergency situations.

In some communities, like Edenhope, bore infrastructure is no longer operational and farmers are being forced to cart water long distances.

"It is new infrastructure and it should be far more usable than what the previous circumstances were," Mr Leahy said.

Mayor calls for 'hardship' subsidies

Mayor Annette Jones said further discussion about water subsidies was required.

Farmers can apply for discounts through GWM Water if they are in "hardship", but Ms Jones said councillors would need to explore whether it was enough to assist the region's farmers.

"Given this is money has come through drought relief, it does seem rather peculiar that something that was going to be free will now be charged for," she said.

"I understand the irony of this.

"Council should be looking at people who are experiencing any kind of hardship, whether assistance could be applied for."

Cr Jones said she was planning to put a motion forward at the next council meeting.

But she did express in-principle support for a shift to the metered system, saying neighbouring councils no longer used ratepayer money to subsidise water.

"West Wimmera Shire was the final shire who wasn't charging for water," she said.