They've been affected by drought and fires and now these Queensland farmers are getting another kick in the guts.

Peter Keogh and Ben Usher say they're outraged over a decision to allow a Chinese company to take millions of litres of water from an underground aquifer each year for bottling. What's worse is they claim they weren't even consulted about it.

"This is just the big fellas walking over the little fellas from what I can see," Peter told A Current Affair.

Queensland farmers Peter Keogh and Ben Usher claim their council sold the water from under them without consultation. (A Current Affair)

Fellow farmer Ben agreed. "I can't see how that's beneficial to the area, especially when we've said the negative effects," he told A Current Affair.

These fourth and fifth generation farmers have lived on the farm all their lives but say they've never experienced a drought like this one.

"No never this dry...never this bad. It's been dry before but never the water as bad as it is," Peter said.

The dry conditions forced them to destock down to less than a third of what they normally have.

"I spent years building them breeders up and it breaks your heart to sell young breeders you know, cattle that you've bred," Peter said.

While recent rainfall has turned the drought-stricken paddocks green, it hasn't been enough to boost water supply which is drastically running out.

"To the point that I've got a spring down here it's completely dry it hasn't come back," Ben said.

It's so bad, residents of Queensland's Southern Downs Region have been placed on severe water restrictions.

While farmers like Ben and Peter are running out of water, only kilometres away Cherrabah Resort will be extracting 96 million litres of water each year to be trucked to the Gold Coast for bottling.

Peter Keogh is upset about his council's decision to sell water to Chinese company Cherrabah Resort (A Current Affair)

The 5000 acre resort near Warwick was bought by two Chinese-born investors in 2006, based on a proposal to develop the area into a town.

Two years later the owners, known as the Ma brothers, were granted a licence to take up to 25 million litres of water each year. In 2010 that number almost quadrupled as part of the plans, and the extraction licence was extended until next century.

"At that point, Cherrabah were going to build a town there and that got thrown by the wayside so the whole water issue to us was sort of dead in the water then," Ben said.

But late in 2018 the Ma brothers took further steps, lodging an application through their entity Royal Duke Holdings which asked the Southern Downs Regional Council to approve infrastructure to extract and filter water from an aquifer for bottling. But prior to the December council meeting it was unexpectedly withdrawn.

Just before Christmas, an almost identical application was put back before council under a different company name.

Despite the fact the area is ravaged by drought and the council is trucking water into the region, it was passed, without any consultation with these nearby farmers.

"It's embarrassing that our council would do it. You know, fair dinkum. Drought or no drought here, you know this issue is just not right, even when it's good times, you're still going to drain the water here," Ben said.

Senator Pauline Hanson agreed.

Ben Usher thinks the negative impacts of the decision will be huge. (A Current Affair)

"You don't allow, especially (a) Chinese company, to come in and start extracting water for commercial purposes and selling it at a profit when towns and schools can't provide the water there for the township," she said.

"These are bureaucrats these are people with no common sense. You don't do that in a country that is going through droughts."

"These experts say this water they're going is deeper than mine... If you take the water out of the bottom of glass you know, put a straw in it where's the water at the top going? You know? It's not rocket science," Peter said.

While farmers are being told it won't affect them, just the Cherrabah Resort test pumping has caused Ben's spring to run dry, he claimed.

"Now you can only imagine if that's happened here just from the test pumping, imagine if they took 100 mega litres out."

"They could have knocked the infrastructure back, they could have at the very least put it on hold until we're out of this dire water situation," Peter said.

Following outrage among locals in the region late last month, Cherrabah Resort operators announced it will donate this year's water allowance to local charities and irrigators, also committing to not take water during the drought. But these famers aren't convinced this is a solution.

Residents of Queensland's Southern Downs Region have been placed on severe water restrictions. (A Current Affair)

"Whether you drain if for a local irrigator or if you drain it to go to China, you're still draining it. Either way, we're still stuffed" said Ben.

"When are they going to say the drought is over?" Peter questioned.

Both farmers agreed on who should be stepping in.

"It needs a government that will stand up and say this is how it's done and we've got to look after these people - it's not happening," Peter said.

"I really think we're getting to the point where Federal Government need to step in, Scott Morrison needs to step in."

"We are fools here we have just been selling ourselves out to the highest bidder and we're gonna have nothing left at the end of the day," said Pauline.

"They're coming, they are going to buy the water up and they're going to send it off and you're going to be wondering why you can't get a drink," said Ben.