MITCHELL Shire Council has hit out at the State Government’s plan to regularly pump water to Melbourne through the north south pipeline.

Water minister Tim Holding recently stated that the Government will continue to let water flow to Melbourne, even though there is enough water in the city’s reservoirs to last until the Wonthaggi desalination plant is built in 18 months.

Mitchell Shire mayor Bill Melbourne said water was more urgently needed in northern Victoria.

“Melbourne has sufficient water there to cover them,” he said.

“If they have rain down there and these storage reservoirs fill, they’ll be dumping that water into the sea and I think it’s water that we need for the food bowl in Shepparton…it’s definitely going back on what they said they were going to use that water for.”

Cr Melbourne said “turning the pipeline on and leaving it on” would have a detrimental effect on Seymour and Broadford residents and farmers, who rely on the Goulburn Basin for drinking water and irrigation.

He also said taking more water from northern Victoria would affect the quality of the Goulburn River, which was crucial to tourism in the area.

Councillor Ross Lee said the north south pipeline would “be known as the worst legacy of this current government in the future”.

“It’s taking water the wrong way and we’re going to have a very expensive desalination plant coming on-stream in the next couple of years,” he said.

“It’s ludicrous that country Victorians are having their water stolen from them and a pipeline which could have easily operated either way is only operating one way.

“It’s the most ridiculous and the most expensive waste of money that the government will have done in this regime.”

Councillor Robert Parker said Goulburn Valley farmers were in dire need of additional water.

“Many of them only being allowed 30 per cent of their water allowance,” he said.

The Victorian Government did not respond to Star's questions.