Association president Jock Laurie says the Government must provide transparency in its water purchases, as it is currently extremely difficult to asses the actual impacts on the market.

“The association is calling on the Government to cease purchasing water until a full assessment is made of the transparency and auditing of water purchases," he told the conference.

"It must cease until the impact on the viability of group supply systems is known, also the impact on irrigation-dependant communities, including demographics and the impact on irrigated agriculture's ability to continue to sustain and increase food production.

“Delegates have also voted to lobby the Government to ensure its activities in the water market be conducted under full price disclosure within 24hrs of contract signing.

“While the association welcomed the establishment of the Water Buy Back Stakeholder Consultative Committee to provide feedback on design and implementation of the Government’s water purchase program into the future, we are disappointed at the lack of detail provided in the newly published website for government water buy backs.

“We believe that social and economic impact statements should be prepared as part of the Murray Darling Basin Plan process.

“The government has promised transparency in the water market, and the association looks forward to discussing this with Government to ensure that this happens sooner rather than later,” Mr Laurie said.