07:15

The issue of water in the Murray-Darling appears to have made its way over the Great Divide and into the mid-north coast seat of Cowper in which the Nationals are facing stiff competition from the independent candidate Rob Oakeshott.

On Monday the Nationals candidate, Pat Conaghan, appeared to give support to a controversial plan to dam some coastal rivers on the east coast and turn them inland using pipe infrastructure, following a lightning visit to the seat from the controversial former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.

The details are scant, but some have suggested the Clarence and Macleay rivers could be dammed and diverted inland into the headwaters of the Darling.

“I will support anything that helps farms over the divide,” he told a local NBN television reporter.

He said he supported the idea but “it depends where it is and it depends how it’s done”.

The plan to use coastal rivers like the Clarence and McLean to feed the Murray-Darling system was first proposed by engineer John Bradfield in 1938 but it has been revived by Joyce who has been championing it in recent months in the Land.



But the plan is extremely controversial, because obviously altering the flows on the east coast could have all manner of environmental impacts on the local environment and fisheries in the estuaries.

It also comes with an eye-watering price tag of somewhere north of $15bn.

“What this shows is a candidate lacking understanding of our valley-by-valley landscape. Someone who doesn’t understand the impact that damming rivers would have on towns along rivers, and at river-mouths. It would be an economic and environmental disaster,” Oakeshott said.



“The Nationals need to be told at the ballot box that our local river water is not up for sale and that they are no longer trusted to care for our river systems.

“They wrecked Menindee Lakes with one million fish killed, they’ve messed with the water flows in inland NSW leaving many towns dry, they traded water in highly questionable deals, and now they want to dam our coastal rivers.”