Gippsland residents have urged the state’s planning minister to order an environmental assessment of a proposal to turn the vast Hazelwood mine pit into a lake, which would take up to 25 years to fill and require almost twice the amount of water Melbourne consumes in a year. The rehabilitation of Hazelwood's mine pit will be the largest ever undertaken in Australia, after the heavily polluting power plant was closed in 2017.

Farms are playing a key role in food supply chains through these current tough times and will continue to play a big part in the economic recovery into the future. Farmers are worried about water security and availability into the future, due to mine fills and a drying climate reducing stream flows.

The first of the new signs went up today along the Princes Hwy between Sale and Rosedale. If your driving past and are wondering what the signs are all about, please let me recap: Fresh water from the Latrobe River that is currently being used to grow food and fibre is under threat of being taken from irrigators and the environment in order to fill mine voids. There are other options for rehabilitating mine sites that do not involve Latrobe River water, they are just more expensive ? Irrigators are calling for a study into to cost/benefit of using fresh read more..

LATROBE River irrigators who want to transform Gippsland into an "agricultural powerhouse" have formed a committee to oppose the state government's plans to fill Latrobe Valley coal mines with water. About 45 irrigators attended a meeting on Thursday night at the Glengarry Hotel, where the Latrobe River Irrigators Group formed to take its concerns to the state government and fight for "reliable irrigation entitlements in the Latrobe system".

Primary producers have rejected a plan to fill Latrobe Valley coal mines with water from the Latrobe River in Victoria's east. Irrigators are set to form a coalition against the proposal, calling on the government to explore a number of alternative plans to fill the large-scale coal pits including with salt water via a potential pipeline from the Gippsland coast.

Primary producers have rejected a plan to fill Latrobe Valley coal mines with water from the Latrobe River in Victoria's east. Irrigators are set to form a coalition against the proposal, calling on the government to explore a number of alternative plans to fill the large-scale coal pits including with salt water via a potential pipeline from the Gippsland coast.

Primary producers in Victoria's east are calling on the state government to release 39,000 megalitres from Blue Rock Lake previously set aside for brown coal-fired generation in the Latrobe Valley.

Macalister Irrigation District production could be doubled, and irrigation along the Latrobe River increased, to help the local economy transition and create jobs. The Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien said Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley should aim to become a powerhouse for irrigated agriculture, capitalising on reliable water availability and new opportunities to develop existing resources.